Time After Time  1998  2000
by Liberty Stewart
Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Time After Time

Pairing: Numerous A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick characters (central) with other pairings along the way

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the several dozen franchises and characters that I'll be using throughout this story.

Summary: A love story spanning two decades, told through multiple parallel universes, and seen through the eyes of Rachel McAdams.

A/N: Well it looks like my love for Andrea Joy Cook and Katheryn Winnick has finally hit its peak, and this is the result.

A/N 2: Due to the fact this is a crossover, I'm going to have to alter some timelines and locations in order to make this work.

Story Arc Summary:

Title: 1998 – 2000: The People We Become

Fandom: Mean Girls/Student Bodies and Higher Ground

Pairing: Holly Benson/Shelby Merrick

Rating: G

Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School, located across the border in the Ontario wilderness.

A/N: For this story, let's assume the events of Mean Girls, Higher Ground and season 2 of Student Bodies all took place around 1998 despite being released later. Also since Higher Ground was obviously filmed in British Columbia, we're going to have to pretend Ontario has rocky mountains because Higher Ground without mountains wouldn't even be called Higher Ground. I'm also pretty certain Mean Girls took place in the 11th grade, but let's pretend it was the 10th.

A/N2: Both of these Canadian series carries a lot of sentimental value to me, and both ended unresolved. So now I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders because I feel obliged to give both of these series a proper ending. Hope I do them justice. Just for anyone who's unfamiliar with these two shows, Katheryn Winnick is Holly Benson and A.J. Cook is Shelby Merrick. Anyone curious to check out the series, both are up on Youtube. Here are the channels for Higher Ground and Student Bodies. Katheryn is in the episodes 2.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.54 and 3.59 while A.J. is in the entire series of Higher Ground. If I had to recommend one, then by all means watch Higher Ground.

A/N3: Thanks to all the betas that help review this chapter. There was so much that I'm sorry for not being able to remember all of you.

Fun Trivia: Although taking place in Illinois, Mean Girls was filmed in Toronto, Ontario. So if Regina was actually moving, it wouldn't have been that far.

Chapter 1

1998 was quite a year for Regina George. She fractured her spine when the careless school bus driver rammed her, but she still managed to attend the Spring Fling and received the crown of queen. Okay, that was only because Cady gave away her crown, but Regina got a good chunk of it and only lost to Cady by five votes according to one of the vote counters. After her recovery and numerous sessions with her physical therapist, Regina really had a new view on life. By the time the new school year began her group, the Plastics, were no more. She was advised to join a sports team to let out all the rage and frustrations she had bottled up inside. The sport of her choosing: lacrosse. All of it appeared to be working. The Queen Bee of North Shore High School, who many of the students knew and feared, seemed to have died in the accident. It felt as if the new school year was going to be a new start for Regina, and it was, but in more ways than she had thought.

Almost one month into the new school year Regina's mom broke the news – they were moving. So goodbye to North Shore in Illinois, and here she is now. Sitting in an airplane, looking down on the city she's going to be calling home: Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Regina keeps mostly to herself during the car ride. She looks to the rest of her family. Her little sister, Kylie, and her mom are pretty excited to be starting a new life in a new country.

Their car pulls into the driveway of their new home. "Alright girls, let's take a look inside our new home," her mom says enthusiastically.

* * *

Regina steps out of the car and takes a good look at their big house. Inside, she just stands and looks at the interior of the place from the foyer. Her mom passes by her and says, "Hey, Regina I think we'll be calling this city home in no time."

"Can't wait," Regina replies back with a fake smile. Regina should be excited right now, but the thought of starting a new life in a foreign country made her nervous, especially one where she had heard that most people spoke French instead of English. There's not much she can do now to the sudden change other than learn to adapt to it.

Regina sits in the principal's office as her mom chats with the school principal, Mrs. Morton. '_Why would a Canadian high school be named Thomas A. Edison?_' Regina wonders. _'The people who built this place must have either been American or idolized Edison, whatever.' _

Mrs. Morton reaches over to shake her mom's hand. "We welcome your daughter to Edison, Mrs. George."

* * *

The next day Regina strolls the busy hallways of Edison High in search of her locker.

She locates the number. Just as she was working the locker combination, the blonde guy whose locker is next to hers, looks sideways and sees Regina. "Are you new here? I just noticed you're occupying the empty locker next to mine."

"As a matter of fact, I am. Just moved into the city. And you two are?" Regina returns the question back at the blonde guy and the brunette girl next to him.

"Victor Kane," the blonde guy holds out his hand, trying to be a gentleman, she supposed.

"My name's Fransesca," the short brunette answers. "But people here just call me Flash, because I'm the photographer for one of the school papers."

"Regina," she takes Victor's hand with her left hand and Flash's with her right and shakes them both at the same time. "I'm wondering, do you guys know how many people in this school speak English?"

"Oh don't worry about it," Flash gives her the "forget it" wave. "Many people in this city may speak French, but that doesn't mean we don't speak English either. Besides about half the people here migrated from Ontario. You're in the most non-French speaking school in the whole city."

"That's good, at least I don't have to ace French just to have a proper conversation."

Victor smiles. "Here's hoping we can become good friends."

"Here's hoping," Regina says, giving one of her not-so-sincere smiles. She takes her things and walks off to her class. "I've got to go."

"I could tell she likes me," Victor says to Flash. She just gives him a bemused smile.

* * *

"We have a new student, so everyone welcome Regina to the class," the teacher announces. There are a few minor responses from the audience area, mostly moans and grunts. "Okay, just take a seat anywhere in the auditorium."

Regina walks across the auditorium. Many of the boys are giving Regina weird stares as she passes them. She was less than thrilled to say the least. She then spots another blonde girl near the end of the auditorium. Slim and pretty herself, wearing nice casual clothing of the more upscale variety. "Hi there," Regina says to the other girl.

"Hey," the other girl responds with a small smile in the corner of her mouth.

Regina takes a seat next to her. "It's like the boys here have never seen a pretty girl in their lives."

"This school's selection of decent guys is very limited," the other girl responds. "I guess they believe if they flirt with the new students early, it somehow increases their chances. You have any actual interest in acting?"

"Nope," Regina answers. "It beats any of the other classes I can pick though. You?"

"Kind of; I'm a part time model," she answers. "So I should at least know how to pose and walk on a stage."

"Makes sense," Regina responds. "What's your name?"

"Holly."

"Regina," she gives Holly a small smile.

* * *

Regina steps into the cafeteria with a plastic container of sushi. Her former lunch diet of salad and diet soda had become extinct ever since the Plastics broke up. The lunch was store-bought, because Regina wanted to survey the quality of the cafeteria food the school has before deciding to try it. The lunch crowds pass by her to find a seat while Regina takes her time and examines the seating area. _'Let's see what kind of people we have here,'_ she thinks to herself.

Regina glances around as she slowly walks in the pathway between the tables. Unlike her previous school, the group types here didn't stick out like a sore thumb. It didn't look like they catered to an exclusive clique either. A number of the tables appear to have students sitting down at random. She looks around and spots Holly.

"Hey, Regina! Over here," Holly calls out.

Regina takes the invitation and moves towards her table. Holly scoots over for the new student.

"Care to introduce us to your new friend, Holly?" a red-haired friend of Holly's asks.

"This is my best friend Kim," Holly introduces Regina to the red-haired girl. She then directs Regina's attention to another blonde sitting next to them, "And this is Paula. Girls meet Regina. She's in my drama class and just moved into the city, so I figure I should try to make her feel welcome here."

"Welcome, Regina," Paula greets. "Where did you move from?'

"Evanston, Illinois, down in the US," Regina answers. Regina examines Holly and her friends. This could work.

* * *

The next day, Regina spends the break time in the gym, checking to see if there are any team openings. Her new self is a nicer and more humble person that tries not to do the things her Queen Bee self would've done for amusement, like spreading rumours or breaking up couples. However, on the sports field is where the Queen Bee still lives on. She goes through the list of girls' sport teams, and is amused when she spots one new sports team. They're still running try-outs and one of them is today at lunch.

Lunchtime arrives and Regina steps into the area of the school where the try-outs are being held. Several girls are already practicing with the red rubber balls in their hands. Regina approaches the female coach nearby.

"So, are you still looking for girls to be part of the team?" Regina asks.

The coach gives Regina a good hard look. White fancy dress pants, a black sweater with a large v-neck that exposed a light pink button-down shirt, which was opened enough to show off a gold necklace. The designer ensemble had the coach questioning the new girl.

"You sure you got the right place?" the coach asks. "This is the dodgeball try-outs."

"Oh, I know," she responds confidently. "I'm not too late, am I?"

"No, you're right on time," the coach says, expecting Regina to be a spoiled rich kid who doesn't know what she's getting herself into. Regina gives the coach a smirk.

The coach waits a short while for more people. After a few minutes, the coach blows the whistle to start. "Heads up, girls. Game's going to begin soon, so stop what you're doing. First things first, gather all dodge balls and place them in the centre of the gym."

Many of the girls do as instructed. The coach continues, "Once you're finished with that, grab a coloured bib from the bin over there near my office." The coach points to where the bin is located. "It's a choice between red or green this time."

Regina casually walks to grab a bib. She pulls out a green one. The bibs are in the shape of a tank top meant to be worn over your clothes. Regina instead opts to shoving the bib into her pocket and let it hang out of her pants.

After the girls have picked a colour, the coach goes on. "Okay red team to this wall, green team to that wall," she uses her arms to point to the corresponding spots.

Once the girls have gathered, the coach decides to give a few words about the game of dodge ball. Regina isn't really paying much attention to the coach's little speech; she just wants to slam some balls into girls' faces. After those few minutes, Regina hears the words she's been waiting for. "Okay let's get this game going," the coach says and the whistle blows again.

Many of the girls rush to the centre. Regina just stays where she is, away from the centre, watching with her arms crossed. She watches stationary as the other girls get eliminated one by one.

The coach notices that Regina is the only one not diving for a ball. She shakes her head at the new girl, expecting her not to be into sports. Only trying out for the team for some other purpose, but then she notices the expression on Regina's face. It's the look of someone who's confident and not the least bit intimidated. The coach then looks at the game and watches as Regina is easily outlasting all the other girls by simply standing there. She can't decide if Regina is smart or just full of herself.

Once about half of the girls who came have been eliminated, Regina finally makes her move. Calmly, she moves closer towards the centre.

Three girls on the other team were watching Regina throughout the game; two of them with dodge balls in their hands. "Why look, she's finally moving," one of the girls comment.

"Hey, Carol, should we knock down Barbie over there?" one of the other girls, named Rena, asks.

"Who gets to do the honours?" questions Carol.

The third girl, Mary, makes a suggestion, "You both have dodge balls, why don't you see which of you two can hit her first?"

"I like that idea," Rena replies.

"So do I," Carol adds.

Regina notices the two girls rushing towards her. Carol throws first, followed by Rena a second after. To their surprise, Regina catches Carol's ball, and uses it to block the second incoming ball. With Carol eliminated, Regina swiftly tosses the dodge ball at Rena. It strikes the girl with such force, that Rena gets knocked onto the ground.

Mary drops her jaw at the sight. Regina turns her head to Mary then grins while slowly walking backwards.

The game progresses and Regina continues to go strong throughout. Both Mary and Regina rushes for free dodge balls towards the centre line. One of the balls is rolling towards Mary while the closest to Regina is stationary. Mary gets to her ball first. She bends down to fetch the dodge ball, but Regina quickly gets into a kneel position and scoops up her dodge ball with one hand. Instead of trying to stand back up and throw the ball like her adversary, Regina throws the ball hard into the hardwood floor. The rubber ball rebounds against the ground and clocks Mary underneath the jaw.

Mary collapses on her back and lies on the floor for a bit, seeing stars. "Can't believe I got beaten by Barbie."

Before they know it, the whistle blows. "Victory to the green team," the coach announces. She walks over to Regina and another girl on the team, "Looks like these two ladies are the last ones left. That's enough for today girls. Any new people remember to leave your names on the sheet that's on the table over there near my office. We'll continue more tomorrow."

The coach compliments the other girl before she leaves. "Good one, Jessica." She then faces Regina, "What's your name new girl? Anyone who can do that well and look nice at the same time deserves extra props."

"Thanks," Regina says and flashes a smile. "It's Regina."

"I got to say, Regina, if you're serious about joining this team, I can easily see you becoming the team captain."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Regina comments.

"Well enjoy your lunch while you still have time," the coach finishes.

The school week nears its end. The coach is right about Regina being on her way to team captain with the way she's been dominating all the other girls. It's even more convenient that the same coach, Coach Stam, turned out to be her P.E. teacher. She also finds herself quickly becoming a part of Holly Benson's circle of friends.

* * *

**Lunch Time**

"So you girls have plans for the weekend?" asks Regina.

"No can do," replies Paula, "My boyfriend, Joe, wants me to go with him to the movies."

"And I'm just going to stay home. You can drop by, Regina, you're more than welcome," Kim informs her.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Regina replies back then turns to face Holly. "What about you, Holly?

"Holly's been doing the same thing every weekend ever since the school year began," Paula remarks.

That gets Regina curious. "What might that be?"

"I have a friend named Mike who got into the wrong crowd and picked up some bad habits. So as sort of a last ditch effort, his parents placed him in Mount Horizon. It's a school to try and help teenagers at risk," Holly answers.

"Basically it's a mix between a year round summer camp and a rehabilitation centre," Kim tells her.

"Interesting," Regina comments. "I wonder how his parents heard of the place?"

"I was the one who recommended it," Holly informs, "A former teacher of mine told me about the place. He now works there. Mike's parents still wanted to keep him in public school, so they made a deal with the school board that if he can return back to his old ways, he'll be welcomed back."

"Where is this place anyways?" Regina wonders.

"Right across the border and into the forests of Ontario," Paula blurts out.

"That must be a long way to go and visit a friend," says Regina.

"It's part of a deal Mike and I made," explains Holly. "If he agrees to go to Horizon, I promised him I'll visit once every week. Seeing a familiar face helps him cope."

"Sounds like you've been holding up your end of the deal," comments Regina.

"When Holly makes a promise, she keeps it," Kim tells the new student.

"Never make a promise you don't plan on keeping," replies Holly.

Regina looks at the girls and asks, "So is Horizon an exclusive place, or can anyone drop by?"

"It's open to anyone, but do you really want to visit the place?" Holly asks curiously.

"I'm trying to get adjusted around here and see more of this country," Regina answers. "I'm pretty certain I'll be curious to see it eventually. So might as well visit now."

"In that case, Regina, drop by my house in the morning tomorrow. I typically leave around one in the afternoon on Saturdays."

"I'll be there."

* * *

**Saturday Noon**

Regina and Holly are in the driveway of Holly's home, all set to go. They toss their small packs containing food and drinks into the back seat of the car. The two girls climb into the front seats.

"So how far is this place?" asks Regina as she fastens her seatbelt.

"About 75 miles from the city," Holly answers. "It's going to be a long trip."

* * *

Regina looks out the window as the afternoon sun shines through the wall of evergreen trees. She has pretty much been looking out the window the entire trip, gazing at the scenery. Quite a beautiful scenery. They're now moving on a road that's entirely surrounded by trees, as if a construction crew just ploughed its way through the forest to make a road. That's most likely what they did.

"Okay we should be there any moment," Holly says.

Regina can see a clearing ahead. Once the road began to curve ahead, the sight of a large cabin comes into view from behind the trees. The car eventually moves into a small gravel road. Regina spots the wooden sign with the words "MOUNT HORIZON HIGH SCHOOL" as Holly turns the car to the side. The trip finally comes to an end. The two girls step out of the car and make their way towards the double doors of the large cabin.

Inside the large cabin, they see it's the administration office. "Hello," one of the staff at the front desk greets them.

"Hi," Holly replies. "I'm here to visit a friend of mine. His name is Mike Callahan."

"I'll see if I can get someone to take you to him."

Holly looks around the place and spots a familiar person passing by. "Jeff?" she calls out.

It grabs Jeff's attention. "Holly?" He approaches the two girls. "Nice to see you again, Holly."

"Nice to see you too, Jeff." Holly greets at her former teacher. "Your leg has been healing nicely."

"What happened to your leg?" wonders Regina.

Jeff turns to Regina. "Who's your friend, Holly?"

"Jeff, I want you to meet Regina. She just moved into the country," Holly says by way of introduction.

Jeff shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you, Regina. How are you liking Canada so far?"

"It's alright," she answers.

He nods then suddenly remembers Regina's question, "And to answer your question, I broke my leg during a 10 day camping experience we like to call a Quest. I insisted I join the other students and another councillor because I felt the need to get more in touch with nature. Needless to say I wasn't in very good shape by the time we got back."

Holly pats her former teacher on the back, "Don't feel bad Jeff. Just give it more time and eventually city people like us will adapt to places like this."

"I take it you're here to see Mike and Regina isn't going to be another student here?" Jeff jokes.

"Yes, we're here for Mike," Holly says with a smile.

"I'll take you to him then." Jeff leads the two girls out of the administration building.

Regina glances around the place as they enter the campus area. The camp ground is more impressive than she expects. The buildings are better than what she would expect from a summer camp or even a public school; on the outside anyway. All the walkways are neatly outlined by rocks and made out of either wood chips or gravel. Everything is neat and tidy. The grass is perfect, all even with a healthy green colour, no patches of weeds, dying grass or lack of grass in sight. She can't even spot litter or any kind of mess. Even the firewood is all properly stacked underneath the woodshed.

'_Damn, Canada really is as clean as they say. Their groundskeeper must get paid very well,'_ Regina thinks to herself.

"The students usually hang around here." Jeff takes them into one of the larger buildings.

Once through the doors, the initial room appears to be a lounge. A number of students are slumped on couches and love-seats. Paintings are hung on the wall and the interior is decorated with ornaments you would find in a living room.

"Oh, I see him right there." Holly points to a table on the further end of the room. Mike is relaxing by himself, drinking a glass of orange juice.

"I'll leave you two alone." Jeff gives them a smile before heading out. The two girls approach Holly's friend.

It isn't long before Mike looks forward and notices the person walking up to him. That lightens up his mood. "Oh, hey. Good to see you, Holly."

Both Holly and Regina pull out a chair. "How is it going, Mike?" Holly asks.

"Not bad," Mike answers. "Who's your friend?"

"Regina," she introduces herself.

"Nice to meet you," Mike greets.

"So how are you getting along?" questions Holly.

"A few of the guys in my cabin are pretty cool."

"Any mishaps?" Holly adds.

Mike thinks about it before deciding to answer. "Yeah. I got into a rivalry with a student from another group."

"Who with?" Regina asks curiously.

"That little man over there." Mike looks over to the couch. "The one in the tank top."

"The Hispanic guy at the end?" Regina questions.

"Yeah, that's him."

Holly is disappointed in the news, but she tries not to show it much. "Is this rivalry still going on?"

"No, we worked it out."

"That's good to know," Holly says in a more pleasant tone. "How did you guys work it out?"

"We went over to the lake to settle it. He allowed me to have a free shot at him since he sucker punched me a few times. He said he was sorry, so rather than hitting..." Mike pauses. "I pushed the runt in the lake instead and we had a water fight. Couple of other kids who were watching jumped in the lake too."

"Way to go, Mike," Holly says with a smile. "I'm proud of you."

* * *

Regina stands out in the yard, observing more of the place. In her current line of sight is Scott, a new student that was forced into Horizon by his father several weeks ago.

A man with dark brown hair, who looks to be in his mid 30s to early 40s walks up to the new visitor. "What are your thoughts of Horizon so far?"

Regina turns to face the man. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Peter Scarbrow. I run this place," he answers.

"Is that how you can tell I'm not one of the students?"

"That, and Jeff told me Holly brought a friend who matches your description."

"To be honest, when Holly told me this place is to rehabilitate teenagers, I expected this place to look more..." Regina thinks of the proper word. "Guarded."

"This isn't a prison," Peter replies.

"Is that why it's conveniently deep in the wilderness?"

"Okay you got me. That's so the students don't try to run off," Peter admits. "However that's not the only reason why this establishment is in the forest, Regina. Out here it's a different environment from what they grew up in, an environment that can be harsh, and that's when the students will have to rely in each other to make it through."

"Well it is a very nice place," compliments Regina.

"Thanks."

In the distance, Mike and a few of his group mates approach Scott. Mike comments about the football in Scott's hand, "How about we play a friendly game?"

Scott looks at them with an unimpressed look. "Sure... but I think we're a few players short."

One of the students, Katherine, confronts them after seeing the group walk up to Scott. "Any trouble here?"

"No trouble at all. Just a friendly game of football," Mike answers. "I know, why don't we get our entire groups here? It would make some good exercise for that whole X-Challenge thing."

Katherine thinks about that idea. "That's not a bad idea. Let's do it."

"What's going on here?" Holly asks Regina and Peter as she walks up to them.

"Looks like a football game with your friend Mike," Peter answers.

They watch as the students gather their colleagues. "I'll get the cones," one of Mike's group mates yells out.

A thought comes into Regina's head. "I'm wondering, Peter, are there any rules about outside visitors playing with the students?"

"It's fine if the students are okay with you playing alongside them, but do you really want to?" asks Peter.

"What better way to get to know people?" Regina smiles. "Coming Holly?"

"Sure, why not?" Holly follows.

The two of them approach Mike. "Excuse me," Holly addresses.

"Yeah, Holly?"

"Any room left in your game for a couple extra players?"

"Didn't know you were the sports type Holly," he comments.

"It's her idea," Holly says and turns to look at the girl beside her.

Mike looks at Regina as the blonde lifts up one of her eyebrows. "Going to have to see what they think," he responds.

"Hey," Mike calls out. It grabs the other team's attention. "You mind if my two friends here join us?"

"There's two of them, one of them is going to have to be on our team," Katherine replies.

"I have no problems with that," Regina tells Mike's group.

"Me neither," Holly confirms.

"Pick one then," Mike responds back. Mike's colleague returns with cones and starts out lining the field.

Scott looks at the two girls. Both blond, pretty, about the same height with similar slim figures too; wearing nice clothing that sticks out from the crowd. They look like they could've been sisters. "Okay, which one is the closer friend?" Scott asks.

"That would be me," Holly answers. "I've been Mike's friend for years now."

"Just moved here this week," Regina confirms.

"What's your name?" Scott asks Holly.

"Holly," she tells him.

"Okay we take Holly."

Holly is a bit surprised they have her facing Mike's team, but she accepts. "Okay, I don't have a problem with that."

The outline of the field is finished. Regina makes her way towards her team's end zone. "Come on, losers," Regina calls out. "Let's prove we're at least better than those losers."

"Don't play so rough, okay," Juliette, one of the more sensitive members of Scott's team, says aloud.

Peter jogs towards Regina. "Say, Regina, considering why everyone is here, I think it will be in our best interest to refrain from calling any of the students 'losers'."

"My apologies, Peter," Regina responds politely. "Let's huddle up now, rejects," she calls out again.

The members finally group up at their side of the field. Juliette gazes at their extra member. "Are you and your friend both rich? Those are some nice clothes you two are wearing."

"Thanks." Holly smiles at the brunette. "And, yes, we are quite rich," she says coyly.

"Let's hope princess here isn't as frail as Princess Juliette," One of the team-mates, Shelby, remarks.

"Hey," Juliette complains.

"Just tell me where you want me," Holly says confidently.

"I know, Holly, why don't you check your buddy Mike," jokes Mike's former rival.

"Hey, the Hispanic kid," Regina calls out. He looks at Regina. "What's your name?" she continues.

"Auggie. What is it to you?" he replies.

"You want to check me, Auggie?" she asks.

Auggie smirks at the request. "I wouldn't want to hurt you, rich girl."

She returns the smirk. "I can take a hit." Regina gives a good look of the opposition: six opponents plus Holly. The only one that stands out from the crowd is the new student, Scott.

Peter watches on the sidelines. The display interests him not only because it's rare to have visitors who request to interact with the students like this, but also because he gets to see how far that teamwork has gone. The game's underway.

The ball is thrown through the air and caught by Auggie. Regina heads towards him. She moves into a crouching position to get underneath him and quickly rises back up. Lifting Auggie off the ground and tossing him into the air. He comes crashing down on his back.

"Are you okay, Auggie?" Juliet asks.

"Yeah, fine," Auggie responds still lying on his back.

Mike walks past Regina and looks at her with a grin on his face. "I'm really starting to like you, Regina."

Auggie rises back on his feet. He stares at the blonde that just levelled him and points at her. "I'll get you back for that, rich girl."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Regina retorts.

The game goes on and Scott's group is losing. One point of the game has Mike passing the ball to a team mate before being taken down. The team mate then manages to run up to the end zone to score a touchdown. Another part of the game has Scott trying to throw the ball over to Auggie, but unfortunately, the other boy gets tackled down by multiple people. Later on, both groups charge at one another into one large pile.

* * *

Their friendly competition comes to an end, and both teams are beat and resting up in the lounge.

"I got to say, you were impressive on the field, Regina," Mike compliments. "I especially love how when Auggie tackles you back, you shrug it off and smile."

"I was hit by a school bus once," Regina states in a light manner. "I think I can handle a football game."

"You were really hit by a bus?" one of Regina's team-mates asks.

"I was and managed to recover in time to compete for Spring Fling queen," she says proudly of the last sentence.

"Damn girl," the same guy remarks.

"I thought you were training these guys, Katherine?" Scott remarks to his team.

"Hey maybe if you covered me more, we could've scored more points," Auggie fires back. "Aren't you suppose to be some great football player?"

"Yeah," Scott answers coldly. "But it's hard to win games when the team is filled with losers."

"I wouldn't say that," Mike blurts out to them. "Holly was better than I expected."

"Thanks, Mike," Holly says from the recliner chair she's seated on.

"I was surprised our two rich girls didn't mind dirtying their designer clothes," Shelby remarks. A death glare is the only response Holly gives Shelby.

Regina sees Peter and a question enters her head. She gets off the couch and approaches him. "Excuse me, Peter, you mind if I ask you something?"

"Not at all, Regina. What do you have on your mind?"

"I remember Mike mentioning something called the X-Challenge race. What's that about?"

"The X-Challenge race is when schools just like ours around the area all gather up to compete in a team race through the wilderness," Peter answers.

"So everyone in the school is going to compete?" Regina continues.

"Ah no, we're only allowed to pick one group to represent the school."

"So which of those two groups did you choose?"

"The Cliffhangers."

"Which one is that?"

"The group your team won against."

Regina gets the feeling Peter picked the wrong group. "What's the name of group I played with?"

"You were with the Trackers," Peter answers.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you pick the Cliffhangers?"

"I thought they needed the teamwork."

"Good luck to them then, Peter," Regina finishes.

"Thanks."

Ezra, one of the least athletic members of the Cliffhangers, walks to where Holly is. He pulls out a chair and sits beside her. "I've noticed the stares you gave Shelby both during and after the game," he says to Holly. "Don't take her comments too hard; she's like that to everyone."

"I figured," Holly remarks.

"It's all just an act though," Ezra adds. "Deep down there's a good person underneath."

Holly spins her chair to the side and looks at Ezra, "How would you know that?"

Ezra begins to whisper. They are a good distance away from the other students and Ezra doesn't want anyone to overhear, "Can you keep a secret?" Holly nods. "A couple of weeks ago, a little girl went missing and we had to search for her. Not only was Shelby the one to find her, she actually climbed up the side of a cliff to rescue her. It was one of the most heroic things I've ever seen."

Holly raises an eyebrow. "For real?"

"Yeah, but she didn't want anyone to know about it," Ezra answers. "So she gave me the child, told me to say I found her, and ordered me not to say anything about it. I guess she doesn't like people to know she has a sweet side."

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"I just can't keep this to myself. And I figure since you're not a student here, I could tell you. You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"I promise," Holly reassures him.

"Good." Ezra smiles and nods. "Also, I asked Peter about you and your tough, but pretty hot friend. Since you're going to be coming back here to visit Mike, I thought you should know she isn't all bad. She's actually quite a lot of great things," he says the last part almost hesitantly. He isn't hiding the bashfulness very well.

Holly gives Ezra a sly look. "You have a crush on her, don't you?"

"What? Me?" Ezra tries to look uninterested. "Yeah," he admits. "But look at her. You can't say she isn't one of the prettier girls here."

"That she is," Holly agrees. "Though as they say, looks can be deceiving."

* * *

Peter chats with the two visitors while they start to leave the camp ground and head back to their car. "Jeff tells me that Mike really looks forward to your visits Holly, and that your visits are what's helping him settle in. I'm grateful that you're dropping by here," Peter informs her.

"Anything to help a friend," she replies back.

"See you again next week?"

"You bet," Holly answers.

Peter looks over to Regina. "How about you? You have any plans to return?"

"We'll see," she tells him with a straight face.

"Alright, I'll be getting back to the camp now," says Peter. "You two girls take care."

"By the way, Peter, I really meant it when I said good luck with the X-Challenge race," adds Regina.

"Thanks," Peter finishes before dashing off towards campus.

* * *

The next day Katherine is helping out at an old folks home. She wheels an elderly lady towards her friends who are playing a game of cards while enjoying the sunshine outside.

A blonde teenage girl recognizes Katherine. "Hey, Katherine, right?" Katherine recognizes the girl, too, and tries to ignore her by moving to another table to gather newspapers.

The blonde girl moves up to Katherine. "We met on the trail the other day, remember? It's me, Michelle, from Lawrence Hastings." Michelle notices Katherine is still trying to avoid eye contact. "I was visiting my grandma. Do you work here or something?"

"Three days a week," the dark skinned girl answers abruptly while still avoiding eye contact. "I'm a falcon - I have privileges."

Michelle laughs at the response. "A falcon? How totally summer camp."

Katherine finally faces the other girl with a serious expression on her face. "It's my status." She waits a while before speaking up again. "Forget it."

"I didn't think they let you guys out."

"It's a school. You think it's some kind of prison?" Katherine responds defensively.

"Sure. You're the hoods in the woods. We're the spoiled brats down by the lake," Michelle answers. "That's how everyone sees us both, right?" Katherine looks at Michelle and nods to her words. "Listen, I was gonna go meet some friends, just hang for a while. They're all shrews like me, but you want to come along anyways?" she offers.

"I need to meet the van at 8:30."

"You won't be late. Come on, don't you ever want to have fun?"

* * *

Later that day, Katherine finds herself persuaded to hit the dance floor with Michelle and her Lawrence Hastings comrades.

* * *

Late at night, Hannah is pacing around the lounge, wondering about their student's whereabouts. The place is lit mainly by the flames in the fireplace. Peter enters the room. "She missed the bus. No one's seen her."

"It's been two hours, Peter," Hannah informs.

Then, surprisingly, Katherine runs into the room from another entrance.

* * *

Katherine sits quietly on a recliner as Peter and Hannah stand beside the fireplace, discussing what should be done about the matter. "Dancing at Fabian's," Peter puts his fist against his forehead. "My head's pounding."

"It could be worse, Peter," Hannah comments. "She could have been in a bar."

Peter sticks his thumb out at Katherine. "You want to call her parents and tell them that, huh? Yes, it could've been worse, but there's still consequences, and she knows that." Peter walks away from Hannah and approaches the student. "Katherine..."

"I said I was sorry."

"Still..."

"I said I was sorry, but I'm not," Katherine adds. "I'm really not." She leans forward and faces Peter as he takes a seat in front of her. "I just wanted to go dancing. I just wanted one normal night. Once, can't you get that?"

"Absolutely, absolutely," Peter agrees. "But you're still responsible for being here, on time." Peter thinks of an appropriate punishment, "You lose your town privileges for a week. You're off the X-Challenge team, and you're out of the race."

"They'll lose without me," she comments.

"Then we lose. What do you want me to do? Make the easy choice? You know I can't do that Kate." Peter lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry. Go to your dorm."

Katherine marches off the recliner. "Face it, Peter, this is really your race."

* * *

The following morning, the Cliffhangers are seated around a table in the cafeteria. The team captain is breaking the news to the others.

"Come on, don't kick her off. Just put her on restriction or something," suggests Juliet.

"Come on, Peter, be human just once," Shelby insists.

Peter looks off to the side. "We need a new team captain. Scott, you're it."

Scott raises his head to the announcement. "What?"

"You're it," Peter repeats.

Scott gets off his seat, "No... no way, this team is a joke."

"Then make them a good joke." Peter gives him a sly look before exiting the room.

"Let's see what you can do 3 time league champion," Katherine says with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

"Give him a chance," Juliet defends.

"All right, first thing," Scott begins. "Shelby and Juliet, you're gonna shut up and stop complaining."

"Scott," Juliet says in a displeased tone.

Auggie points to the new team captain, "Hey, don't you talk to her like that, meat."

"Auggie, you're going to drop the attitude," Scott continues. "And figure out a way to get Ezra across the finish line alive."

"You keep in my face, and I'll show you attitude," Auggie responds.

"I'll camp in your face if I want to," Scott fires back. It's only been a few seconds, and already the team isn't too fond of its new leader. Scott sighs and stares at all of them, "Now, check your gear, and, uh, look at your maps and try not to do anything too stupid." Scott turns and walks away from them, still trying to take in the idea of being team captain.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Time After Time

Pairing: Numerous A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick characters (central) with other pairings along the way

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the several dozen franchises and characters that I'll be using throughout this story.

Summary: A love story spanning two decades and told through multiple parallel universes, and seen through the eyes of Rachel McAdams.

A/N: Well it looks like my love for Andrea Joy Cook and Katheryn Winnick has finally hit its peak, and this is the result.

A/N 2: Due to the fact this is a crossover, I'm going to have to alter some timelines and locations in order to make this work.

Story Arc Summary:

Title: 1998 – 2000: The People We Become

Fandom: Mean Girls/Student Bodies and Higher Ground

Pairing: Holly Benson/Shelby Merrick

Rating: G

Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School, located across the border in the Ontario wilderness.

A/N: For this story, let's assume the events of Mean Girls, Higher Ground and season 2 of Student Bodies all took place around 1998 despite being released later. Also since Higher Ground was obviously filmed in British Columbia, we're going to have to pretend Ontario has rocky mountains because Higher Ground without mountains wouldn't even be called Higher Ground. I'm also pretty certain Mean Girls took place in the 11th grade, but let's pretend it was the 10th.

A/N2: Both of these Canadian series carries a lot of sentimental value to me, and both ended unresolved. So now I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders because I feel obliged to give both of these series a proper ending. Hope I do them justice. Just for anyone who's unfamiliar with these two shows, Katheryn Winnick is Holly Benson and A.J. Cook is Shelby Merrick. Anyone curious to check out the series, both are up on Youtube. Here are the channels for Higher Ground and Student Bodies. Katheryn is in episodes 2.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.54 and 3.59 while A.J. is in the entire series of Higher Ground. If I had to recommend one, then by all means watch Higher Ground.

A/N3: Special thanks to Queen of Shadows over at for being an awesome beta.

Fun Trivia: Both Higher Ground and Student Bodies, despite being Canadian TV series, has Americans Joe Lando (Peter Scarbrow) and Jamie Elman (Cody Miller) as its lead stars while most of the both casts consist of Canadians.

Chapter 2

**Tuesday**

The students of Edison are at their lockers, grabbing their stuff. "What class do you have next?" Victor asks his locker neighbour, Regina.

"PE, you?" she replies.

"The student newspaper since Mrs. Morton made it into a class."

"You look pretty excited," Regina notices. "I thought the staff there were your rivals or something, and you're only with them because Mrs. Morton closed down your newspaper and made "Student Bodies" the only one in the school?"

"That is true. I wasn't too fond of Mrs. Morton taking away "Student Voice" because of that whole award thing," Victor confirms. "But didn't I tell you about my weekend with the guys over there?"

"No, you didn't."

"Well I went on a road trip with them over the weekend. It was just me and three other guys. They weren't very accepting of me at first, but after their original plans went wrong, it was up to me to show them a good time. By Monday I was considered one of the guys."

Regina could see how proud Victor is of himself, so she decides to amuse him. She pats him on the arm. "Have fun with them then."

* * *

The editor of the paper, Emily Roberts, walks into the newsletter room. "I hate Mrs. Morton," she emphasizes.

Victor gets off his desk and tries to sweet talk her. "Poor Emily. She removed you from running our little publication. Have no fear, I'm ready to retake the reigns."

"No, Victor, I'm still in charge," she tells him. Victor lets out his disappointment. Emily takes a seat on her desk and continues, "I'm mad because she's making us redo this week's entire issue by Friday."

"Friday?" Mags says, surprised. "We have to finish this in three days? No way."

"I don't want to do it either, Mags," Emily retorts. "But we're getting graded on Student Bodies remember? It's homework."

"Sorry, Em, you're going to have to count me out," Chris comments. "I'm, ah, I'm helping Cody move." Chris gets off his seat and approaches his colleague.

"You are?" Cody asks curiously.

Mags gets off her seat and stands next to Cody. "Yeah, me too."

"Me three," Grace adds.

"Ditto," Victor joins the others.

Cody gives Emily an innocent look as the other members of the staff is gathered around him. "Hey, Em don't blame me. I've been planning this move for months."

"Yeah, boss. Cody just can't wait to be all alone with his... daddy," Flash says in a mocking voice.

Chris and Victor comments on the daddy factor in mocking voices too. "Okay, okay, tell you what, tell you what," Cody speaks up. "Tomorrow after you all move me in, we can work in my father's. I mean in my house."

* * *

Over across the border, the banners for the X-Challenge race are up. The beach of a lake is crowded with tents, each of a different colour, for the visiting schools and the respective participants.

The team of Horizon just been informed they start alongside the team of Lawrence Hastings. The school Peter made a bet with its director, Bob, in which the losing school will be serving the winning school dinner with the added bonus of either Peter or Bob having to sing in front of everyone.

"Go get 'em, captain," Peter says and pats Scott on the back.

"We got to get ready, don't we?" Ezra says anxiously.

"Don't get an aneurysm." Scott gets off the table and starts to walk with his team-mate. "Where is everybody?"

A few tents away, Shelby is flirting with the guys from another team in reddish-orange shirts. "So you guys came all the way from Toronto for a race? Should make sure you have a good time then, huh?"

Ezra clears his throat to get Shelby's attention. "We are next." He looks at the guys who are all around his team-mate. "Oh, did she tell you that she's in high school?"

Shelby gives Ezra a frown, then gets back on her feet to follow her two team-mates. In the next tent, where Gatorade refreshments are set up, are Auggie and Juliet. Scott looks down at Auggie who's lying on the table. "Come on." The Hispanic doesn't even turn his head so Scott raises his voice. "Now!"

"Take off," Auggie responds. "I'm dreaming about your mama."

"Auggie be nice," Juliet tells him.

* * *

Both the Horizon and Lawrence Hastings teams have strapped on their life jackets and are getting into their kayaks. They are ready to get their part of the X-Challenge started.

Scott looks next to him and sees Auggie isn't in any rush. "Come on, man, let's move it."

The time keeper fires the gun and it starts. Shortly off the shores, the Cliffhangers already have their first problem as Juliet and Auggie bump their kayaks together, causing the others to get caught in the clutter. Scott, who is a far distance ahead of his team, looks back to notice the tangle up. He stops, but once the others managed to straight themselves out again, he continues on again with the rest of his team trailing behind.

Lawrence Hastings, the team wearing black and white, has reached the shores. Scott shortly follows behind. He takes off his gear, ready for the next relay. He looks back and sees the rest of the Cliffhangers are still a few meters from the shoreline.

"Come on, hurry up, let's go, come on," Scott tells the others anxiously as he stands near the finish line for the kayak race. "Let's go, guys, come on." Scott already starts moving once the others touch the shores.

The Cliffhangers cross the next X-Challenge race banner, marking the start of the next challenge. "Horizon, I'm here," Scott tells the time keeper in the nearby tent.

"All right, the mountain bikes are out back," he says and fills in their time. "Hit the trail."

Scott's ready to get going again. "Hey wait, can we rest a minute?" Juliet asks achingly. Scott just shakes his head at her. The others, who have just started resting up, get back on their feet.

* * *

Regina and Victor are getting their things out of their locker and ready to go home. Flash approaches Victor. "Ready to do some moving, Victor?"

"You're doing some moving?" Regina asks.

"Not me, someone else in our newspaper team named Cody," he answers.

"We're using this as an excuse not to work on the re-edit of the newspaper that Mrs. Morton has us doing," Flash informs the blonde female.

"You seemed happy to be one of the guys earlier today Victor," assess Regina.

"Oh, I am," Victor says confidently. "But that doesn't mean I'm willing to do their work for them."

"You two have fun."

* * *

In the forest of greater Ontario, mountain bikes race through the deep woods along a dirt trail. The Cliffhangers are doing their best to keep up with Lawrence Hastings. Well everyone except Scott. The blonde leader can see the other team ahead. He looks back to see how far behind the rest of the team is, and decides to take it up a notch.

"Scott, wait," Juliet calls out.

"Jerk," comments Auggie.

"Maybe he'll run off the side of a cliff or something," Shelby adds. Ezra's too tired to say anything.

They come up to a point in the trail where tree logs are scattered across one area. The Lawrence Hastings team and Scott decide to jump their bikes over the logs, while the rest of the Cliffhangers decide to get off and carry their bikes over.

Scott can see the other team right in front of him. He decides to push himself further. Now one by one, the leader of the Cliffhangers begin to pass by the members of Lawrence Hastings. He sees an opportunity for a shortcut and jumps his bike down a ledge. Breathing heavily, the athlete looks behind him and sees he's out of view of the other team.

Scott has reached the bike challenge finish line. He quickly climbs off his bike and hands it over to the race inspectors. He tosses his helmet down on the bike rack and approaches the tent with the time keepers. "Horizon, I'm here."

The female time keeper looks back. "Where's the rest of your team?'

"Back there somewhere," Scott answers frustratingly. "I'm here."

"Well good for you, but the time won't count until they all get here," she informs him.

The rival team just arrived. The leader bumps Scott out of the way, and Scott responds with a shove of his own. "Lawrence Hastings," he tells the time keeper. "We're all here." He stares back at Scott. "Loser."

While Lawrence Hastings are well on their way to the next challenge, the rest of the Cliffhangers finally arrive. The sound of tires scraping across dirt gets Scott's attention. He rushes back on his feet. "Come on, let's move it, come on."

The other Cliffhangers go for the cups of Gatorade stacked on the table of the time keeper's tent to help with their exhaustion. "Okay... can't move... can't speak," Ezra says as he gasp for air.

"We need a minute," Juliet tells their leader.

"You know what? Fine," Scott throws the map and compass on the ground in front of his colleagues. "You want to lose, stay here. You want to win, you come with me now."

Scott already starts moving again, but Auggie blocks his path. "Hey, you got a bad mouth, meat. You're gonna get hurt."

"Just step off, all right?" Scott replies back. "I got a race to run."

Auggie shakes his head, "Look around. You're here because everybody gave up on you - your parents, your teachers, all of them. They gave up on us, too."

"We only have each other," Juliet says from the crouch position she's in.

Shelby looks at Scott. "Pathetic, isn't it? You walk away from here, you're walking away from the only thing you got."

Scott looks at them, and with a sense of denial, he continues on his path.

* * *

In Montreal, over in the Miller residence, Mr. Miller excitingly joins his son in the living room. "Cody, I can't tell you how great this is."

"I know, I know, it's really great," Cody remarks as he holds up a box of items in his arms. "Dad, you're okay with my friends coming by to work, right?"

"Why, Cody, this is your home now," he responds. "Your friends are my friends, right?"

"Uh, right, I guess," Cody answers, not quite certain.

"Just me and you, the Miller boys," Mr. Miller says enthusiastically. "One great time." He gives his son a friendly punch in the arm before he walks off laughing with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, the Miller boys... great. That was weird," Cody realizes.

* * *

Mags and Grace are enjoying relaxing on the couch, sipping up some drinks with their feet up on the living room table. They see Mr. Miller walking into the room and the girls quickly take their feet off the antique table. "Sorry Mr. Miller," Grace apologizes.

"No, no, it's okay girls, leave them up," he insists. "I mean to me, antique is an overpriced way of saying really old." He bends down to gather the empty drink cans on the table. "Hey, wait till you try my guacamole. You'll flip."

"So, Mr. Miller, you must be pretty psyched about having Cody move in," Mags addresses.

"Are you kidding, Mags? It's fantastic. Just me and him, and all the time in the world to try not to... mess things up."

"Well if it helps, my parents mess things up all the time, and I'm still fine," she tries to assure him.

"It's great to see you, Mags," he raises up one of the drink cans.

"Anytime, Mr. M." Mags takes her own drink can and bumps them together.

"Thanks." Mr. Miller leaves for the kitchen. Mags puts her feet back on table and relaxes.

* * *

In the Ontario wilderness, Scott climbs down a small rocky cliff side with a harness that was set up for the contestants. He detaches himself and continues down the steep path. He pulls out his map and compass to see if he's on the right track.

* * *

Emily Roberts and Flash have just entered the Miller residence a short while ago. Emily is surprised to find that neither Mags or Grace have started on their assignment yet. "Wait a second, this is our assignment. Where are the guys?" Emily wonders.

"In Cody's room," Mags answers. "He's got all of his stuff up there now. You should see it."

"That's okay."

"Oooh, you're not ready yet, are you?" Grace remarks.

"For what?"

"For the ex boyfriend bedroom," Grace says and tries to make it sound creepy.

Flash overhears and decides to join in. "That den of forbidden passion. Ripe with all the sensual memories of a time that once was, and shall never be again."

Mags walks over to the other girls. "He's got his own bathroom," she says abruptly.

"Look, I don't need to see Cody's new bedroom, okay?" Emily tries to defend herself. "If you guys can just go up there and get them so maybe we can get something accomplished today."

"I'm on it, boss," Flash lets her know. She puts her face next to Grace's ear and whispers, "She's not ready."

* * *

The other four Cliffhangers, sweaty, dirty and tired, trek through the forest to an area where an open road meets a possible trail. "I don't see him anymore," Auggie comments on Scott. "Which way, E.Z.?"

Ezra has the compass lying on top of the map, trying to see both of them at the same time to make sense of it all. He lets out a sigh. "I don't know."

Juliet grabs the equipment. "Let me see that."

Shelby looks at how her team-mates are trying to navigate the area. "Just decide so we can get out of this nightmare."

Ezra leans in and tries to understand it all again. He points to the side. "Southeast, pass the gully, around the ridge... I think."

"I think?" Auggie remarks. "Come on."

"You're more than welcome to try," Juliet adds.

Auggie takes the map and compass. He quickly gives up and drops the equipment on the ground. "Stupid map." He looks around the area and points towards a direction. "Come on, it's this way. Move your humps."

Juliet picks the equipment from the ground as Auggie dashes. Shelby gets off the tree stump she's sitting on and follows the rest of them.

Auggie dashes across the terrain. He stops to scan the area, but, foolishly, isn't paying attention to the ground underneath him. With one wrong step, he accidentally stumbles off a small ledge, and starts rolling down towards the open road.

"Auggie," the other Cliffhangers call out, concerned.

They move around to a smaller point on the ledge and jump down to where Auggie landed. Juliet goes to check on him. "You okay?"

"Get off me, get off me, get off me," Auggie insists.

"Is it broken?" asks Shelby. "Did you hear like a wet snap?"

"Yuck," Juliet comments on the thought of that image.

"It's not broken, I just twisted it," the injured team-mate answers.

"Do you think you can get up?" wonders Juliet.

"Come on." Shelby places one of Auggie's arms on her shoulders and tries to help her fallen comrade get back on his feet. "Ready?"

Just as they're about to help Auggie back on his feet, Auggie realizes his ankle isn't going to be able to handle the weight. "Argh, no, no, no, no."

"Juliet, do you have that rescue radio?" Shelby asks.

"Yeah," the brunette unzips the small emergency bag. She hands Shelby, who's attending to Auggie's injury, a roll of bandages. "Here." Juliet speaks into the radio, "Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?" She repeats herself again, "Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?"

* * *

Scott reaches the area in the forest where the second checkpoint is. The Toronto team Shelby was flirting with earlier in the day is there.

One of the members notices Scott and calls out to him, "Yo, dude, Horizon, heard a radio call. You got somebody hurt back there. You better turn around." Scott looks back at the path he just went through. "Bad luck Kemo Sabe," he finishes. The team finishes their drinks and continues on. Scott grabs a drink from the table and decides to follow the other team.

* * *

Cody walks down to his living room where all his colleagues are waiting. "Okay, now that we're all here." Emily hands Flash a stash of papers. "Why don't we get started with these agendas that Flash is handing out?"

"Agendas?" asks Mags.

"Ah, man." Romeo frowns as he receives the papers.

Mr. Miller confronts Emily. "Emily, can I make a small suggestion?"

"Sure, Mr. Miller," Emily answers uncomfortably.

"Oh, come on, call me Frank. Oh look everybody, okay?" Mr. Miller insists.

The others agree to his request. Cody on the other hand is not too thrilled and feels like letting "Frank" know he's crazy.

"Okay, sure... Frank," Emily agrees.

"Well you're up against a pretty big monster," Frank continues. "Awaken that big creative giant."

"You go, Frank," Chris compliments from the couch.

"I say you only need a little mindset adjustment I like to call..." Franks walks over to his stereo set and pushes a button on the CD player. "Salsa." The music gets the students off the couch and they start dancing. "See, isn't this great?" Frank calls out to his son.

Emily gives Cody a disappointed look. Cody simply holds up his hands and starts to back away slowly. Cody heads back up to his room. He picks up his phone and takes a seat on his bed. A number is dialled. He gets an answering machine he made himself. "Hi, this is the Millers, we're not here. So do what you have to do."

Cody begins after hearing the beep, "Yeah, hi mom, it's me. Ah... I think I might have made a mistake. Call me back, okay?" He places the phone away.

* * *

On the shores of the X-Challenge Race, one of the time keepers approaches Peter, Hannah and Katherine, "You're Horizon?"

"Yes?" Peter confirms.

"Somebody's hurt. It's not serious. We're going to send a jeep around the mountain."

"Stay here, stay with the radio," Hannah instructs Peter as she goes to help find the lost Horizon team.

Over at the start/finish line, the sky begins to take a purple tint in the horizon as the sun can be seen starting to set and its orange light shines on the lake and behind the mountains. People cheer as another team are about to cross the finish line. It's the Toronto team with Scott running along the pack.

Katherine runs up to Scott. "Where is everyone? Who got hurt?" Scott doesn't say anything. "He just left them," Katherine tells Peter as he approaches.

"You did what?" Peter asks, shocked by the news.

"I finished," Scott says in a tired voice. "I did it."

"Yeah, you did it, you did it all by yourself," Peter says and begins to give Scott some attitude. "You're a big football player, huh?"

"Had 17 touchdowns my junior year," he responds.

"Yeah, but you didn't learn anything, did you? You just give up."

"Open your eyes," Scott fires back. "I'm here. I finished. I didn't just give up."

"You are team captain!" Peter raises his voice at the athlete.

"This is your school. You run the place, not me. Those losers back there aren't my fault. You want to blame someone? Blame yourself."

Peter points his finger at Scott. "Hey, didn't you ever lose a game, Scott? Didn't you ever drop a pass, huh? Most of them, they've never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is drop-pass, and you just threw them another one. I was in lots of teams, and just like you, I messed up and I got thrown off. But you know, I still remember how good it feels to be part of something. I still remember that, Scott. It's a good feeling, even when you lose, and you got a chance to share that with them today, you had a chance to help them feel that, but no! Just once in your life, Scott. And where's your team now?" Peter points his arm towards the other teams, all together as one. He decides to give up and walk away from the troubled athlete.

The memory of Scott's football career begins to flash in his head. It's night and rainy. The game's over and Scott's in the locker room. He tosses his helmet away and wallows in defeat. His team-mates are walking by him, patting Scott on the back and telling him not to worry about not winning. Scott ends the memory and looks at the teams around him. He thinks about being in the locker room again. This time it's the four team-mates he abandoned that are the ones to give him a comforting pat on the back, and they stand there beside him. Peter's words hits Scott hard.

"_Most of them, they've never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is a drop-pass, and you just threw them another one."_

* * *

Elsewhere in the suburbs of Montreal, the "Miller boys" cruise in their car as the sun sets. Frank went to grab various supplies for Cody's friends. Grace and Emily were having a tug-of-war on Cody. Grace suggests for Cody to go with his father, while Emily opts for him to stay with the gang. Cody chose to go with his dad, not because he agreed with Grace, but so he can get away from the two bickering girls.

"I was thinking, maybe we should rent some videos tonight, and I could grill up some burgers, okay?" Frank suggests to his son.

Cody turns off the radio. "Look, dad, you don't have to be everybody's pal."

"Come on, I'm one of the gang," Franks replies back.

"No, dad, you're my father. And," Cody stops and looks in front of him. "You're going through a stop sign."

The two of them hear cars honking their horns. The two of them let out a scream as the car comes to a sudden stop. They stop just pass the stop sign. "Sorry," Frank apologizes. He turns off the engine. "Okay, I admit, I'm a little nervous. I just don't want to blow it with you."

Cody looks at his dad, trying to find the right words to say. "Do you know how long it took me to decide to leave mom and live with you? About two years."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Cody pauses for a moment. "All that time I was thinking about how cool it'd be to finally move in with you, and you know, get closer to you. Find out who you really are. And, then, and then today happened, and ah..." Cody gets speechless. "I don't know."

"You know what I did today before I got here?" Frank asks his son. "Bought five boxes of Choco-frosted Bits."

"What?" Cody's surprised. "You never let me eat that stuff for breakfast."

Frank smiles. "But your mom does."

"Dad, could we go back to being ourselves?"

"Right," Frank answers in his previous enthusiastic tone. His son gives him a look and he answers again, "Okay."

Frank starts back up the engine and they're moving again. There's an awkward moment of silence before Frank speaks up again and says, "Your friends are driving me crazy."

* * *

There's a loud splash as Scott dashes through a shallow muddy creek. He backtracks through the forest with map and compass in hand, searching for his lost team.

* * *

Back in the Miller home, Emily is laying on the couch with her head on Flash's lap, mimicking a patient/psychiatrist relationship. "And then I told her that Mr. Kitty doesn't eat from a can. And you know what Granny said?"

"Sh. It's going to be okay, Emily," Flash is very uncomfortable in this position.

Behind the couch are Victor, Mags and Romeo gazing at a monster movie on the TV screen. "Hey," Romeo taps Victor on the leg. "Go into the kitchen and get us something to eat."

"What? Why me?" Victor asks.

"Because." Romeo tries to think of a reason. "You're one of us now, right?"

"Right, one of us," Victor responds. "I'm on it, dude." Victor gets up and makes his way to the kitchen.

"How long are you going to milk that 'one of us' act?" wonders Mags.

"As long as I can."

* * *

"Where are they already?" Ezra says in a disgruntle tone.

"This has been just so much fun," Juliet comments sarcastically.

"I said I was sorry already," Auggie apologizes.

"It's not your fault," Juliet lets him know. "Ugh, I've never been so filthy in my entire life."

Shelby tries to make light of the whole situation and attempts to contain her laughter. "Shel, what?" wonders Juliet.

"I just keep thinking of Ezra and his kayak," she answers. "Nanook of the nerds." Auggie and Juliet giggle with her.

"At least I was trying," Ezra defends himself.

"You almost drowned," Auggie adds.

"Oh, well, look who's talking - the homeboy mountain goat."

They continue to laugh at how badly this whole race turned out to be. "Yeah, we lost," says Auggie. "But Peter has to sing."

* * *

In the suburbs of Montreal, the Millers can hear the siren of fire trucks nearby. One of them pass by their car as they stop at an intersection. "Someone's in a hurry," remarks Cody.

Frank looks at his son. "Look, I want you to know that the first thing I'm going to do when I get back to the house is put my foot down."

"Good." Cody shakes his head. "And?"

"And make sure Chris is making local calls."

Cody looks ahead of them and realizes something. "Dad, that might not be the first thing you want to do."

"Why's that?"

"Cause those fire trucks are stopped in front of our house."

"What?" Frank looks forward in the distance.

* * *

Back in the Ontario wilderness, Scott follows the laughter of his team-mates. He moves around the terrain onto the open road where the four of them sit.

"I'm sorry, but I'm so glad you fell," Juliet says to Auggie. "Now I can go home and take a shower."

Scott walks up to them. "No one's going home."

Ezra looks up at Scott. "Hey, the jerk-man cometh."

"Do you guys want to finish," Scott asks them.

"A little late to be team captain honestly," responds Juliet.

"I know. I messed that up, like everything else. I..." he tries to think of the right words. "I'm sorry, okay? That's it." The others quietly stare at him. "Now, I know you guys are beat, but the finish line is just over that ridge. So I don't care if we have to carry Auggie, but we're going to make it, okay?"

"Why do you care?" Auggie says in an aggressive tone.

"Because everybody in this race, everybody back at the school, they all knew we couldn't do it," Scott explains. "We sit here, and we just prove them right."

"What's the big deal, they already know what we are?" asks Juliet.

"Yeah, we're losers, man," Auggie reminds them. Ezra nods to the statement.

"We're not even losers until we cross the finish line," Scott explains to them. "We sit here, and we're nothing. We move, and we're a team. At least we're that."

They hear a vehicle pulling up. Hannah gets out and asks, "What happened? Auggie?"

"Ah nothing, nothing. I was just stupid," he explains.

Hannah kneels down to look at his ankle. "It's not too bad. I'll get you back. Come on."

"No, no, give me a second," Auggie insists. Hannah stands back up. Auggie looks around at his team-mates. "Yo, you guys want to help me up here or what? Come on."

Shelby and Juliet take the arms of their injured colleague and help him get back on his feet. Auggie looks at Hannah. "Nah, I don't think I'm going to need your ride."

Hannah looks concerned. "Auggie... that ankle..."

"We'll get him through," Scott tells her.

"Come on, Hannah, we've been through too much. We have to finish," Shelby insists.

"Yeah, we may be losers, but we're not quitters," adds Auggie. "Come on, guys." They start moving again. "You got me?" Auggie asks of the two girls.

"Yeah, let's go," Juliet answers.

Scott looks back at Hannah before he moves with the rest of them. "Good luck," she tells Scott.

* * *

The girls take a break from holding up Auggie, and it's Scott who's now trying to single handily hold up the injured student. The Cliffhangers trek through the shallow muddy creek. Auggie takes a bad step and falls off Scott. He lands right into the muddy waters.

"Auggie, Auggie are you okay?" Juliet gets worried. The others attend to Auggie and help him back up. Shelby takes Auggie's other arm and both she and Scott get Auggie moving again.

* * *

In the Montreal suburbs, Cody's friends are gathered in the living room as firefighters are working in the kitchen. They step out of the smoky kitchen, one of them holding an aluminium pan of quick popcorn maker.

"Okay, who's the Einstein who put the quickie pop in the microwave?" the firefighter asks.

All the teens point to Victor and says his name simultaneously, "Victor."

The firefighter walks over to Victor and whacks him on the head with the quickie pop. "Never... do... that... again."

"Yes, sir," the blonde teen responds.

Frank and Cody enter the place. "My house, what happened?" Frank asks.

"Well, everything's fine sir," the firefighter tells him. He points to Victor. "This chump put one of these in your microwave." He holds up the quick popcorn foil pan.

"Thanks, I'll take it from here." Frank takes the pan. He then walks up to Victor and Romeo and whacks them both on the head with the foil pan. He turns around to Chris and hits him too.

Chris is on the phone. "Ow, hold on, Sherry." He looks up at Frank. "What was that for?"

Frank takes the phone from Chris. "Sorry, Sherry, Chris has to go now. Yeah, Chris Sheppard, he goes to Edison, bye." Frank hangs up the phone and leans into his son. "How am I doing?"

"Looking good Frank." Cody pats his dad on the back.

Frank whistles then raises his voice. "Okay, listen up."

"See, now that's how you do it," Flash tells Emily.

"First, keep your dirty feet off my antique table." Frank removes Chris's feet off the furniture. Frank then picks up a plate of garbage. "Second, if you make a mess, you clean it up." He passes the plate to Victor then points to Romeo. "Third, nothing down the sink if it even smells like animal fat." Frank turns around and looks at everyone. "And fourth, you're all welcome here anytime you want."

"Thanks a lot, Frank," the students tell him.

Frank cuts them off. "Oh, please, call me Mr. Miller."

"You changed my Frank," Chris says to Cody in a sad voice.

"And now, I believe Emily would like your attention," Mr. Miller finishes.

* * *

It's night time on the shores of the X-Challenge race. The only thing left from the sunset is a sliver of light peeking from over the mountains. Peter, Katherine and Hannah are all clapping and cheering on the Cliffhangers as they approach the finish line. They're all relieved once they finally reached the line.

"Did we beat those jerks? The Lawrence Hastings guys," Ezra asks.

"You beat them before the race even started," Peter tells him.

"Alright, Auggie, let's get that ankle checked out." Hannah walks up to Auggie. The injured student gets off Scott and Shelby and moves onto Hannah. Ezra offers to help and takes Auggie's other arm.

"You did great, getting them back here," Katherine compliments Scott.

"Nah, they're your team, you trained them," Scott replies. "I just took them the last mile."

"You brought them home in style, filthy, dead last, and smiling. Good work," Peter offers Scott his hand. The two athletes shake hands.

* * *

In the Miller home, Emily lectures her staff. "Okay, today bombed." She sighs. "I can't stand that you all think of me as the bad guy, and I hate doing this project as much as you do, but it's my job. I'm sorry. And I do know I can loosen up a little."

"Yeah, a lot," the rest of the staff all say unanimously.

"Okay, a lot," Emily admits. "What do you say we just put the first part of today behind us and..." Emily walks towards the side.

"We know," Mags interrupts. "Get the issue done."

"No," Emily hits the play button on the CD player. "Salsa." The other students cheer and get on their feet to dance to the music again.

Mr. Miller makes his way towards the kitchen with two large bags of groceries. Cody gets off his seat and follows his dad. "Dad."

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

"I'll be in the kitchen, putting the food away."

"What do you mean? We're the Miller boys right?" Cody gives his dad a playful punch on the arm. "Let me help you." Frank smiles and gives his son the other bag. They enter the kitchen as everyone else continues to dance.

* * *

The full moon shines over the Ontario woods. Underneath, another light source shines, this of a campfire set on the gathering area of Horizon.

Scott walks into the cafeteria with an apron in hand. Shelby walks past Scott with supplies in hand. "I hate serving those jerks."

Scott stops and comment, "Yeah and we got to listen to Peter sing."

"Yeah, that was really cool, what you did," Shelby adds. "Coming back for us. I mean, everyone else still hates you, but... you came through." She looks at Scott. "You're one of us now."

"I guess it's not so bad being one of you. Listen I all that stuff that I said, about you and the other guys."

"Uh, used car," Shelby reminds him of one of the comments.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Scott tells her.

Shelby looks at Scott in a shy manner. "Maybe we can hang out. See if there's something... about me, something that you might like... maybe?"

Scott's amused by Shelby's attempts to flirt with him. "Yeah, maybe." He walks off. Shelby watches him walk off with a grin on her face. She's a bit excited that the new student that she has had a crush on since his arrival is finally talking to her. Shelby heads outside and gives the supplies to the people outside.

She heads back inside and as she walks into the kitchen, she sees the sight of Scott and Juliet making out. The blonde is then reminded that Juliet managed to get a hold of Scott first. Saddened, she walks out of the room and takes a seat on the armrest of a sofa.

Juliet is leaving the place when she spots Shelby on the sofa. "Hey, come on. We got to go start cooking."

Shelby doesn't face the other girl. "What?" Juliet wonders.

Shelby takes in a deep breath. "Let's go." She finally faces Juliet and gives her a smile. "Have some fun." Shelby gets off the couch and heads back outside. Juliet follows behind.

* * *

Outside Scott is helping man the grill. He's handing the meat on the plates of his former rivals. He looks at them and tries not to be too upset.

Peter is sitting next to Hannah with a large bowl of chips in his hand when he hears his name. "Okay Peter," Bob calls out. "Alright, everybody, let's hear it."

They all begin to chant, "Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter..."

Peter gets off his seat and begins to pace around. Both schools are now chanting for him. He knows he has to live up to his end of the deal. He takes a bite of one last chip before moving towards the stage where the campfire is set up. He hands Hannah the bowl of chips. Bob puts one arm around Peter while the other arm has a piece of paper in hand, and he walks him up to the stage. The two of them stand in front of everyone.

"You could enjoy this less, you know," Peter says to Bob.

Bob unfolds the paper, "I believe it's time for dessert. Your just desserts, Peter." He hands the paper to the other camp director. "Here's your lyrics."

Peter looks at what song it is. "Oh, no."

Bob turns on the music from a stereo set up. "Oh, yeah." He trots off the stage.

The song begins and it's YMCA. Peter looks at everyone in front of him. "Young man," he begins in an uneager voice. "There's no need to feel down. I said young man, pick yourself off the ground. I said young man, cause you're in a new town. There's no need to be unhappy," Peter's trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

Scott decides to do something. He approaches Juliet. "Come on."

"What? I'm not going up there."

"We win together, we lose together." Scott takes Juliet by the hand and brings her towards the stage. The others soon follow.

In no time Peter, Scott, Juliet, Shelby, Auggie, Ezra, Katherine, Hannah and Jeff are all now in front of everyone as a group. They continue on the song with Peter and even perform the letter moves. "It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A. It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A."

The mood is getting everyone else there to participate in the sing along. Some of them are even moving along. Juliet decides to move down the stage and dance with Shelby. Peter looks over at Scott, and Peter can't help but be proud at what Scott just did for him. They shake hands again. They continue, almost laughing at themselves. At the very end of all of this, both schools find themselves enjoying everything. The one thing Peter couldn't have asked more for.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With the weekend again approaching, a decision comes to Regina. "You mind if I come with you again to Horizon, Holly?" Regina asks abruptly.

"You want to go over there again, Regina?" Paula suggests as the girls sit together in the cafeteria.

"There were some things over there that got me curious about the place," Regina explains.

"If you're wondering about who won that X-Challenge thing, I could always just ask and tell you about it," offers Holly.

"It's not just that, there's other stuff too," Regina replies.

"Okay then. Just drop by my house again tomorrow and we'll leave around noon."

* * *

The next day the two girls are back at Horizon again. They enter the lounge building. Holly looks around for her friend until a voice calls out.

"Up here, Holly." She looks up and sees Mike and several of his group mates up on the second floor. "I'll be down in a second." He gets off his chair and heads down the spiral staircase.

Mike approaches his friend and pats her on the shoulder. "Hey there Holly." He then looks over to Regina, "Surprised you came back."

"I'm a bit surprised I came back too," Regina remarks.

Mike looks back at Holly. "A couple of the guys and I were just playing some cards. Why don't you join us?"

"Sure," Holly responds.

"You're more than welcome to play too," Mike offers Regina. "The guys were talking about you after you left. They think you're cool.'

"Thanks, but I think I'll join you a bit later," Regina answers.

"Suit yourself."

Peter walks in. He notices Mike and Holly passing by him. "Hey Holly." Holly waves back to Peter. He then looks to the side and notices Regina. "Wasn't expecting you here, too."

"Mike tells me the same thing," she comments.

"Say Peter..." Holly turns around and walks up to him. "Where is everyone? Hadn't seen Jeff, and I noticed a few others are missing too."

"Jeff's out sick, and Frank is on a trip with the boys of the Cliffhangers' group," he answers.

"Speaking of Cliffhangers," Regina said. "How did that X-Challenge race go?"

Peter takes in a breath. "We lost," he tells it to her flat. "Had to cook the winning team dinner."

"He and the Cliffhangers had to sing YMCA in front of everyone too," Mike calls out.

"Wish you picked a different team, Peter?" Regina asks.

He pauses for a moment. "No. We might have lost, but the whole experience brought the Cliffhangers closer together. And in the end, everyone had fun. Besides other people were dancing and singing along to YMCA." Peter calls out to Mike, "And if I'm not mistaken Mike, you were dancing along to the song with the Lawrence Hastings students."

"The Lawrence Hastings students were the ones dancing, I was just slightly moving my body," Mike responds smugly. Holly smiles at him.

"Any other questions on your mind, Regina?" Peter continues.

"No, that's everything for now."

"Alright then." Peter nods a goodbye and continues on his way. Regina stares around the place. She decides to take a seat on one of the couches. She looks at a brown haired girl across from her with a deadpan expression and smirks.

"So you're back," says a voice from behind Regina. She turns around and finds Shelby walking over to the couch.

"Who is she?" the girl with the expressionless face asks.

"A visitor," Regina answers. "Don't think I've seen you yet."

"That's because I just got here," the girl replies.

"Her name's Daisy," Shelby tells Regina. "And you should've seen her the first day she arrived. Came looking like a vampire."

"Oh I get the expression now," Regina says to Daisy. "You're dead inside."

Daisy doesn't respond in the slightest way. "Take that as a yes," Shelby remarks. "There was a boy that arrived here on the same day as Daisy. OD'd the very next day. Hannah blamed herself and Peter tried to bake her a cake to get her to stay."

"I see I missed a lot in just a week," Regina says. "Did the boy survive?"

"Death, it's an inevitable force that claims us all sooner or later," Daisy blurts out.

"Word has it he's going to pull through and it wasn't the first time the kid OD'd," Shelby answers. "She's just weird and likes to talk about death and things like that."

"I don't mind. People were scared of me back in my old school, so it's going to take a lot to give me the creeps," Regina informs them.

Daisy comments again, "If you're not creeped out by that, you should've seen the cake Peter got us to help him make. Now that was scary."

"Heard Hannah buried the thing just out in the woods," Shelby adds.

Regina grins at them. "You two are funny."

A short while later Scott, Ezra, and Auggie enter the building and crash down on the couches next to the three young women. "I see you're back rich girl," Auggie comments after seeing Regina.

"Friends got to stick together," the blonde remarks.

"How's your adventure trip?" asks Daisy.

"It was... enlightening," Scott answers.

Holly walks up to Regina. "And there's the other rich girl," Auggie adds. Holly just smiles at him.

Regina looks up at Holly, "You're not playing cards anymore?"

"They're playing Speed now, and that's only two players." Holly looks around at everyone else and looks back at Regina. "I'm going to head outside just so you know where to find me."

"Sure."

Holly heads out. Coming in from another room, Juliette arrives. "You're back, Scott."

"Hey," Scott responds with a sort of tired voice. He looks around before responding again. "You want to go outside?"

Juliet gives him a grin. "Sure."

Scott gets off his seat to make his way to the door with Juliette following behind. Shelby watches them as they exit. "I'm going to head out too."

* * *

Outside the building, Shelby looks around the campus. She moves around the building and spots Scott and Juliette in the distance together.

"You want to sit down? It will make it look less obvious that you're spying on them," a voice calls out.

Shelby turns around, startled. She sees Holly sitting down on a round table. "Oh, you." Shelby looks at the couple and decides to take a seat next to the other girl. "It's wrong that a guy like him is with someone like her," Shelby remarks as she watches them.

"Will be pretty hard to get someone who's already taken," Holly tells her.

Shelby turns to look at Holly, "Maybe not for long."

"You have a plan in your head?"

"Already did it," Shelby says confidently. "Told Scott that I saw Juliette and Auggie kissing by the lake." Shelby turns to look at the couple again, "What do you think they're saying?"

"Could only guess. Was the Juliette and Auggie thing at least true?" Holly asks.

"I wouldn't make up something like that. It was back when your friend and Auggie just ended their feud."

"Mike did tell me they ended it there." She looks at Shelby, "I hope you're little crush is worth all this."

Shelby stares back at Holly. She was thinking of a good remark, but instead just says, "There's no one else that I want."

"I could relate."

* * *

Regina and Holly are in their car, driving back to Montreal. A thought occurred to Regina, "Hey, I don't think you ever visited my home yet. You want to drop by tomorrow?"

"Mind if I bring along some friends?" asks Holly.

"Of course, my mom even encourages I do so. We'll meet up at your place."

* * *

The next day Regina brings Holly and Kim to her home. "I'm home," Regina calls out.

"Nice place," Kim compliments.

"Thanks."

They remove their shoes and move around a bit. "There's my little sister Kylie." Regina points towards the living room. Kylie's up on her feet, dancing along to some of her favourite videos from the collection.

"Hi." The two visitors wave to her as they walk by.

"Hey," the little girl returns the greeting.

Mrs. George has the little family puppy in her arms when approaching the girls. "Aw, I love it when you bring friends over, Regina."

"Hey Mom, this is Holly and Kim," she introduces.

"Hello," they smile and wave.

Mrs. George puts down the dog and approaches Holly with open arms. "Welcome to our home sweetie," she hugs Holly first.

Kim looks back at Kylie and takes notice of the program she's watching. Mrs. George moves in to hug Kim next. "Mrs. George, are you aware your daughter is watching Girls Gone Wild?"

"Oh of course," Mrs. George says in a pleasant tone. "Kylie got curious, so I let her watch my husband's collection. They say when children are denied something growing up, they're more likely to act irrationally when they're old enough to get a hold of it." Mrs. George looks at her daughter and smiles. "She's a little angel and still thinks boys are icky."

"That's..." Kim pauses to think of the right thing to say, "Smart, actually.'

"Thanks dear," she turns to look at the rest of the girls. "So, you girls need anything?"

"No thanks, we're going to head to my room," Regina leads the girls upstairs.

"Well, if you girls want anything, don't be shy. There's no rules in this home," Mrs. George tells them.

"Sure thing," Kim confirms.

Mrs. George watches them walk away, "Aw, you girls keep me young."

* * *

Regina hurls a dodge ball and knocks another girl to the ground. Coach Stam stands next to the blonde. "That's some nice throwing arm you got there."

"I developed it back when I was in the lacrosse team at my old school," Regina informs.

Coach steps closer to the center, "So, is there anyone else who thinks they have what it takes to lead this team?"

"Don't be shy people," Regina adds. There's a reply of groans.

"Congratulations Regina, looks like you're team captain."

"Excellent," Regina comments.

* * *

While Regina is earning her dodge ball leadership, Holly is over in downtown. Bright camera flashes shine against the blonde teen as she wears a pair of formfitting jeans. Holly's been excused from school by her parents to take up her part time job as a model.

"Good, good, show me a little from the back," the photographer request as Holly takes a number of poses.

* * *

Juliette's down in a cavern she fell into. She later discovered there's a skeleton down there with her. She's only been down in it for a day, but she's already hallucinating.

Juliette stands back up on her feet. She lets out a scream as her body still hurts from the fall. "You know what's so funny about pain?" She asks her mind's manifestation of the dead Indian girl, who's been her companion for a while. "It's all mine. I can start and stop it. It's all mine. I own it. You know what I mean?" The nameless girl looks at her with a sad face.

"Are you cutting yourself again?" Her mom's voice calls out to her, "Are you?"

"No," Juliette answers.

"What about your calorie count?" Her mom's voice continues.

"It's what we agreed to."

Her mom's image appears in front of her. "I want my diet pills back. You promised me you wouldn't get this way again."

"I didn't mean to," Juliette tells her.

"You want me to put you back in the hospital, do you?"

"No."

"You want them to shove that tube back down your throat and be force-fed again?"

"No." Juliette begins to get depressed.

"You're making Daniel really nervous. Are you trying to blow this for us?" Juliette's speechless by her mom's questions. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes!" Juliette shouts back. Thoughts of her mom criticizing her are beginning to get the better of Juliette again.

"I despise you when you get this way."

"Use your tools," the Indian girl tells her.

"I have given you everything I know how to give."

"Make her stop," Juliette pleas to the other girl.

"Use the tools Hannah taught you," the other girl tells her.

"You make me feel like my life is all but unbearable," her mom goes on.

"I won't listen to this!" Juliette says as she's breaking down.

"Why do I have to put up with this from my own daughter, why? Why?"

"Take Control," the other girl says to Juliette.

"You have no right!" Juliette yells back.

"Your behavior is unacceptable."

"Don't give her the power to hurt you," the other girl says, trying to push Juliette.

"I will not be made to pay the price for your pathetic acts of defiance."

"I'm not defiant," Juliette replies back, sobbing.

"Tell her, tell her the truth," the mysterious girl suggests to Juliette.

"I'm sick!" Juliette tells her mother.

"Then you need to be taken care of. Put away up on that mountain. Out of my sight."

"Yes, send me there. Away from you and your abuse!" Juliette fires back. "You have no right, and I won't allow it!" The image of her mother disappears in front of her as the emotionally distraught Juliette slowly slides against the rocky wall back down to a seated position.

"Good. You took control. She can't hurt you anymore. You're free," the Indian girl says as she walks up to Juliette.

"Thank you. Thank you," Juliette says relieved.

The nameless girl smiles and reaches her hand out to Juliette. Juliette reaches out and tries to grab the other girl's hand.

"Juliette," a voice calls out as he grabs her hand. It's Peter. He grabs hold of her then calls out to the rescue team above. "I got her."

* * *

A man is standing around in Peter's office, reading a magazine. Peter sees him through the window and walks in. "Jerry?" Peter asks.

Jerry turns around, "Peter."

"What are you doing here?" he asks, confused.

"The door was open. I'm supposed to meet Hannah," Jerry answers.

"Here?"

"Yeah. She didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?"

Jerry shifts his attention slightly. Peter looks to the side and sees Hannah in the doorway. Jerry puts the magazine down and decides to let the two of them have a moment alone. "I'll wait for you outside," he says softly.

"Yeah," Hannah responds as Jeff gives her a kiss on the side of the face before leaving.

"What?" Peter shrugs his shoulders confused.

Hannah steps into the room and closes the door behind her. She takes a deep breath and walks closer to Peter. "I'm leaving Horizon, Peter."

Peter lets out a sigh. "Hannah, we've been through this. You're needed here. You're wanted here."

"Jerry and I decided to give our marriage another chance," she replies back. "In Toronto." She pauses a bit to let Peter take in the news. "He wants to make it work, Peter. He wants to have kids. So do I," she adds.

"Huh, kids." He tosses the notebook in his hand away. "After all you two have been through?"

"It's just one of those risks I want to take."

Peter attempts to reason, "I know, but Hannah-"

"No, don't," she cuts him off, "Just let me finish okay?"

"Sure," Peter says with a small nod.

Hannah walks past Peter with her back to him. "Your heart is with those kids Peter. It always will be. Healing them, it somehow heals you. It makes you whole. It's not like that for me Peter." Peter wants to say something, but just can't find the words. "Their pain becomes my pain, and I carry it with me. And... I can't do that anymore." Hannah turns to face Peter. "You need someone Peter. Someone to share this with, share your life with. It's not me. We both know that." She sobs a bit before continuing. "You've been a wonderful friend to me, Peter. It's something I will always cherish."

Peter takes it all in. "Can I hug you?"

"Yeah," Hannah nods. They embrace.

"You made the right choice Hannah," Peter tells her as they continue to hug.

* * *

Flash walks into the Student Bodies newsroom. Mags and Grace quickly approach her. Mags puts an arm around Flash's shoulders as Grace hooks one of her arms with Flash's. "Flash, how nice to see you," Grace says as the two girls stand with Flash wedged in between them.

Flash claps her hands together. "So how was the date?" she says confidently with a smile.

"You know it wasn't that bad," Mags answers. Flash raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, they thought we were gorgeous. They treated us like goddesses," Grace adds. "And at the end of the night, there was no wrestling match."

"Glad it worked out for ya." Flash is eager to walk off, but Grace and Mags pull her back.

"Oh yeah, but there was this one little remark that you made," Mags adds. "What did you call me? Oh yeah, an airhead."

Flash attempts to think of the right thing to say, but instead opts to just run away. She heads into the dark room before Mags and Grace can catch up to her.

"I have all day Flash," Mags says, amused.

"Me too," Grace adds.

"Victor, make them go away," Flash requests from the other side of the door.

Victor looks at his watch. "Ah yeah, look at that. It's lunchtime. Sorry Flash, you're on your own. Let's go," he whispers to Cody and Romeo and they take off.

Grace picks the darkroom key off the wall and hands it to Mags. The girls have an idea in their minds. Mags then inserts the key into the lock and locks the door from the outside. They walk off with the key still in the lock.

Flash turns the knob, but the door won't open. "Hey, guys? Hello? Guys? You are taking this way out of context. I probably said the redhead." She still tries to get the door open, but it won't budge. "Guys? Argh! Airhead!"

* * *

The days soon start to fly by faster, and as the Saturdays approached, Regina begins making a habit of joining Holly on her cross border trips to Horizon. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about going there felt almost therapeutic for her. It might have been the whole getting out of the city and experiencing the air and scenery of the place. Maybe seeing two completely different outlooks on life intrigue her. Or maybe after hearing about Horizon, Regina just got curious what other stories would arise in that establishment.

Like how a skeleton was discovered when Juliette fell and was trapped down a cave for a day. Also Hannah left Horizon a few days later. She heard it had something to do with Hannah wanting to have a fresh start with her husband.

Then again, the lure might simply be that Horizon just made Regina appreciate her life more. Seeing all those abandoned kids, one can't help but feel lucky it isn't her.

Though Victor also kept Regina informed on his stories regarding the staff of Student Bodies. Like how recently everyone except Victor and Flash all went on blind dates on the same day. Not as entertaining as the Horizon's stories, though the part of Flash setting Mags and Grace up with child prodigies, then the two girls deciding to lock Flash in the darkroom for her efforts was pretty funny.

* * *

"Been checking you out lately," Scott tells someone.

He comes face to face with the other person and it's none other than Shelby. "It's about time."

"So I was thinking that, uh, you and I could hook up later."

Shelby starts to form a smile. "You mean like, um, sex?" Shelby replies in a seductive tone.

"Yeah, maybe."

Shelby grins. "Sounds good to me."

The spectators howl. Auggie claps at the display while Ezra isn't too fond of what he's seeing. Scott looks to the side and points to Shelby. "If she's going to keep on doing this, you can count me out of your little experiment, Jeff."

"Alright, alright, you two can come down now," Jeff tells them. Scott and Shelby get off the gazebo while Jeff approaches it. "Very nice, uh, authenticity Scott and Shelby."

Shelby sits down on the ground beside Auggie. He gives her a look, "Can't even keep your hormones in check, even for a class project, huh?"

Shelby is still smiling. "Can't help it if they have a mind of their own." Juliette has a bummed out look on her face.

"Now that wasn't exactly what I was trying to accomplish here," Jeff tells his students, "But you get the general idea. Sex is a very powerful thing, but sex also has consequences."

"Blah, blah, blah, blah," Auggie interrupts him. "If God really wanted us to 'just say no', I mean why did he made it feel so good?"

"Well, I for one am all for total abstinence," Juliette says humbly.

"Abstinence is good," Daisy adds. "There's already too many hungry children in the world."

"I'm afraid you're all missing the point," Jeff comments.

Peter walks in with a carton of eggs in his hand. "I think they should maybe experience it first-hand." He approaches the gazebo. "Do you mind?"

"No, no, not at all," Jeff gets off the bench and lets the school director take the stage. "I was just about to suggest the same."

"Eggs are a little... kinky. Don't you think Peter?" Shelby expresses.

"Not the way you'll be using them Shelby," he responds.

He walks past them with an egg in his hand. "These little guys here, they're going to represent your kids." The students are going to find out what kind of role playing Peter has in mind.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Another Saturday over at Horizon for Holly and Regina. "Welcome back Jeff," Holly greets him on the campus ground.

"Thanks. Unfortunately one of the counsellors took Mike and the other Trackers out on a trip," Jeff informs. "They aren't supposed to come back till later today. You can either wait for him or choose to go home. I'll tell him that you dropped by. I don't think that he'll hold it against you."

"That's alright, I'll wait," Holly answers. "You okay with that Regina?"

"And miss a day of bonding with my favourite dysfunctional teens? Oh course I'll stay," Regina nods. Jeff smiles at the comment.

* * *

Juliette pins a flyer onto the campus bulletin board, beside one of the main trails. The flyer has the headlines "Attention: Father Needed".

Daisy, who's standing next to Juliette, looks at the flyer then faces Juliette. "You really want to put it up there? You're that desperate?"

"Got to start somewhere," answers Juliette. She then spots the two weekly visitors, "Hey Holly and Regina."

"Hey Juliette and Daisy," Holly responds back as they approach. The blonde looks at the flyer that she saw Juliette posting up. "Father needed? You got pregnant or something?"

"It's for a school project about parenting where we're given eggs to represent our kids," Juliette answers.

"Ah the egg project, heard about that," Holly comments. "So does everyone start out as a single parent?"

"No, I'm pretty much the only one," the brunette answers.

Regina looks at Daisy. "And what about you? What did you get?"

"I get the pleasure of being barren," the other brunette says in a displeased tone.

"I'm sorry for that. No offense, but I didn't picture you as the kind to be upset about not having children," Regina tells the other girl.

"Well, I am."

"So ladies, I'm on my way to find a dad," Juliette tells the other.

"Or you could go it alone," Daisy suggests.

Juliette smiles at suggestion, "I always knew you had a sense of humour." Juliette begins to leave.

"I could babysit," Daisy calls out.

The other girl looks back. "Funny."

They see Shelby and Ezra walking by rather fast. "Honey the kids won't even know your name," Ezra says to Shelby.

Shelby points to him. "Call me honey one more time Freakin-"

"Sh, not in front of the twins," he whispers and places his hand in front of the eggs as if to shield them from Shelby's negative attitude. "You're going to have to get my last name right one of these days."

Seeing Ezra holding a small basket of eggs, it's pretty obvious what roles those two are playing. Holly can't help it but smirk. Looks like Ezra got this wish to be lovers with Shelby, even if it's just pretend.

Shelby gets frustrated and looks around the area, searching for any kind of excuse to ditch her pretend family. She sees two parents wandering the campus and grins. "Excuse me, can I help you?"

"Ah yes, can you tell us where we might find Peter Scarbrow's office?" the father responds.

"Uh yeah, it's over that way." Shelby points to the direction and then looks back at Ezra. "I'd be happy to show you," she escorts the parents. Ezra has a disappointed look on his face.

"I take it you guys didn't choose these options, so did you pick it out of a hat or did someone assigned you guys this?" Regina assesses.

"Peter gave us our roles," Ezra answers.

"What did Scott get?" questions Regina.

"He and Auggie are a rich gay couple trying to adopt," Daisy answers.

Regina tries to suppress her giggles. The last time she thought about homosexuality, it was back when she made that rumour about her old friend Janis Ian. She really was a terrible person back then. Now however, it's not the part of being gay that cracks her up. It's the part of two guys who can't stand each other are now forced to play a gay couple that cracks her up. "Good ole Peter, gives everyone a parenting role that they don't like. Except you Ezra," she adds.

Daisy decides to approach Ezra. "I can help you raise them."

"Thanks, but Shelby and I are trying to work things out." He then decides to leave.

Regina approaches Daisy and pats her on the shoulder. "If it's any comfort, if I was a part of this project and was able to switch my reproductive organs with yours, I'll be glad to."

* * *

Shelby leads the parents towards Peter's office. She can see Peter through the office windows. She knocks and quickly gets a response. "Hey Peter, you got company." Inside Peter's office is also Katherine seated down on a chair.

"Mom… dad…" Katherine addresses.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cabot," Peter welcomes them in.

"Thank you," Mrs. Cabot replies as she and her husband step in.

Peter leans forward and looks at Shelby. "I'm sure you have something better to do,' he suggests before closing the door.

"Mom… dad…" Shelby says to herself. Trying to comprehend how a white couple can give birth to a black daughter. "Okay," she walks on out of the building.

* * *

Outside Shelby leans against the side of the building and just looks out. She hears someone approaching and gets frustrated. "How many times have I told you to give me my space, Freakin?" she turns her head and sees it's Holly.

Holly raises her hands up. "I have no twins on me, I swear."

"Oh it's you," Shelby responds.

"Mind if I join you?" asks Holly.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Mike or something?"

"Mike and his group haven't returned back from their camping trip yet. I'm just waiting for them in the meantime."

"Uh sure, go ahead."

Holly leans beside Shelby. "So how's that mission of yours to win over Scott going?"

"There's progress. He and Auggie are fighting over Juliette, so I'll give it a few more weeks before he and Juliette call it quits."

"I hope he's worth it. I would never fight this hard to get a guy, especially one who keeps on rejecting me."

"Well, I'm not you. I'm not some rich girl from the big city who can probably get anything she wants," Shelby fires back.

"Sorry if I offended you in anyway."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

Holly gives it a moment before speaking, "I know you're not fond of the topic, but you mind if I talk about your parenting project?"

"What about it?"

"You don't have to be so hostile towards Ezra," she states.

"I'm trying not to think of the idea of me and him in any kind of sexual relationship, even a pretend one."

"He seems like a nice enough guy. So he has a crush on you, can't be any worse than the crush you have on Scott."

Shelby stares at Holly. "I didn't mean to disrespect you in any way with that last remark," states Holly. "It's all just role playing anyway. You guys don't have to kiss or even hug for that matter. I don't think it will hurt to let him have a minute or two of your time to hear out his ideas for the family. Especially since you two need to bring in some of the caring aspect to your pretend family since you guys have more than enough covered the fighting aspect of it."

Shelby gives a small smile to that last part. "Beside it could always be worse. You could be like Scott and Auggie," the other girl adds. The conversation gets Shelby to lighten up.

* * *

Scott and Auggie sit at a table in the dining hall waiting for Sophie. They see Sophie with a file in hand.

"Thank you for coming gentlemen. Mr. Scarbrow asked me to sit in for him and hear your case." The counsellor pulls out a chair. "He had to deal with an emergency situation." Sophie looks into the files. "Well, I guess we should just jump right in. So you two are gay?"

"No! What? No," the two boys answer abruptly and defensively.

"That's what you said here," she looks at the file.

Realization hits Scott, "Oh, yeah, yeah on the paper."

"So tell me guys, why should I give you two a baby? You're not even married."

"Well, um," Auggie starts but quickly doesn't know what to say, "We had a... we had a ceremony."

"Still doesn't make you married in the eyes of the law. What exactly makes you two fit to be adoptive parents?"

Scott comes up with an answer, "Well we make a lot of money to take care of the kid."

"Takes more than just money. Do you have any experience with kids?"

"Well we're, um," Auggie tries to think of something, "I'm part of a big brothers group. You know, we take a couple of kids out every week or so."

"Okay, and who's going to stay home with the baby?"

"Not me," Scott quickly answers.

Auggie looks at the other boy. "Way to stick me with it."

"Alright, it's obvious you two need to work out your stories some more." Sophie closes the file.

"Peter would have given us the egg by now," Scott comments.

"Too bad for you, I'm not Peter." Sophie gets off her chair.

"Well hey," Scott adds, "So we don't get the egg?"

Sophie looks at the egg in her hand, "No, you two aren't ready. Next time, show me how responsible you can be and we'll see." She then walks off.

* * *

"Your mother and I tried to make life as normal as possible, which you continuously made very difficult," Mr. Cabot tells Katherine.

"You're blaming me for that too?" Katherine responds to her father.

Peter gets off his seat. "That's not what they're saying Kat. Just listen."

"We're not blaming you. It just happened," Mrs. Cabot answers in a reasonable tone.

"Listen to what?" Katherine remarks to Peter, "Their polite conversation? I took their daughter away from them."

"Don't say that Katie," Mrs. Cabot replies back. Mr. Cabot shakes his head to his daughter's comments.

"Why do you feel that way?" Peter asks the student.

"Cause it's true," she says in an unflattering tone. "They just won't admit it."

"We don't think that," her mom defends. "You're our daughter too."

Katherine just stares at her mom, "By default."

"Oh great, now she won't claim us as her parents," Mr. Cabot adds.

"If you were really my parents, you would tell me the truth," Katherine responds back.

"Then I guess it's good we're really not." Mr. Cabot starts to raise his voice, "How's that Katie? You got your wish."

"John, no," Mrs. Cabot tries to keep this under control.

"You have no parents," Mr. Cabot finishes the sentence.

"Mr. Cabot," Peter inserts, "That's not the way."

"That's what she wants to hear," John Cabot continues. "Are you happy now?"

Katherine doesn't say a word and storms out of the room. Mr. Cabot turns his head and closes his eyes, regretting his words. "I think that'll be it for today," Peter finishes before leaving the room.

* * *

Outside Shelby is playing a game of basketball with students from the other groups. Ezra approaches her and gets bumped a bit as Shelby shoots the ball. It scores into the net. Shelby raises her arms in victory, "Nothing but net." She sees Ezra with the eggs in his hands and decides to follow Holly's advice. "You got one minute." She quickly darts back onto the court to handle the ball.

"You agree Peter's pretty serious about this project?" Ezra asks.

Shelby passes the ball to a teammate moving by. "Yeah? So what?"

"So why not take the high road on this one? Surprise him?" he suggests.

Shelby shoves one of the rival players away from her and stares at Ezra, "By what? Playing family with you?" She catches the ball as it's tossed to her.

"Exactly. This way you score some major brownie points." He talks to her in a sly way, "Maybe even accumulate enough to get off this insipid hill." Shelby is simultaneously paying attention to Ezra and keeping the ball away from the other player. "Venture into town once in a while."

The idea interested Shelby that she decided to hand the other player the ball, and walks casually towards Ezra. "You mean like get Katie status minus the soap opera?" she wonders.

"That's what I'm saying." Ezra pokes the egg basket out a bit.

She ponders the idea, "So, uh, where do you want these kids to go to school?" Shelby takes the basket in her hands and walks to a more suitable place to think things over. Ezra beams an excited face as he follows.

* * *

After some words with Juliette, Scott decides to talk the project over with Auggie. Auggie was packing his things and about to leave the boys cabin when Scott confronts him. "Auggie."

"Yeah?"

"I went over the research and I think we approached it all wrong. You see, the focus should be showing that there's no difference between us, you know, being gay and all, and everybody else." Auggie gives him a look. "What do you think?" Scott asks.

"You bet," Auggie answers. "We show them as long as the kid's in a lovin' environment that it doesn't matter."

"Exactly." It appears the two boys have come to a mutual agreement.

* * *

Over in the lounge, Shelby takes a seat next to Ezra with the basket of eggs in her hand. Daisy's on a couch nearby, reading a book on infertility. She decides to take a break and watch how things play out between the two pretend parents. "So, uh, what's wrong with sending the kids to boarding school?" Shelby says in a low tone almost as if she doesn't want anyone to know she's talking to Ezra.

"We can't afford it," he answers. "Anyway, that's like sending them to camp, and you remember how miserable camp was."

She gives Ezra a look. "Come on. Me, camp?"

"Yeah, you're right. Well trust me, kids are better off at home listening to us argue all day."

"I still vote for shipping them out," Shelby remarks.

"Why are you so ready to get rid of them so fast?" Ezra questions.

"Because I'm not exactly gonna win any 'mother of the year' awards."

"There you go again – you're selling yourself short. I pray that our kids have just an ounce of your strength."

"Yeah, well, uh, don't waste your prayers. It'll save us a lot of money on therapy sessions."

Ezra leans in to grab the eggs out of Shelby's palms. "That's it. I'm not gonna have the kids around your negative attitude." Ezra stands up. "This just isn't going to work."

"You can't just take them and go. Ezra…" Shelby decides to follow him. Daisy watches her leave the room then returns back to reading her book.

* * *

It's presentation time and the Cliffhangers are gathered outside around the gazebo. Auggie and Scott are up and front first.

"Okay guys, lets hear your reports," requests Peter.

"All right," Auggie starts. "Nobody gets a handbook on raising kids, be it straight or gay. So uh, what makes them better than us? Well, I can't seem to think up nothing."

Scott finally butts in, "The only guarantee is that there will always be unwanted children who desperately needs homes. Now if we're willing to provide them with a stable, loving environment... we don't see a problem."

Jeff and Peter looks at one another. They lean in and Peter whispers something into the teacher's ear. "Congratulations gentlemen," Peter announces. Jeff tosses an egg to the boys as Scott catches it. "You just adopted your first child," Peter continues.

"Yeah," Auggie gets excited briefly until he and Scott looks at one another. They then immediately return back to their less than enthusiastic attitudes.

"Juliette," Jeff calls out.

She gets up and looks at the two adults, "Well the bad news is I didn't find a father for my baby. But the good news is that I realized I don't need one. At least in the sense of taking care of my child. Hey, I've had a lot of fathers, so I guess I'll just look for a second job or pray for a trust fund from one of my dads."

"Okay good," Jeff decides. Just as Juliette's about to leave, Jeff brings up something else. "And I'd appreciate it if you would take your flyers down now."

"Okay," Juliette smiles. She runs over to remove a flyer that she has pinned to one of the support beams of the gazebo.

Peter looks at the next student, "Shelby." Juliette returns to where the other students are sitting on the grass as Shelby heads up in front. "You seem to be minus a family," Peter notices.

"Uh, well..." Shelby tries to think of the right words to say, "um, I..."

"Honey, I'm home." Ezra approaches from behind where Peter and Jeff are sitting. He has his arms open up as if he's expecting a hug. "Car trouble," he explains to the two adults.

"Oh," Peter nods. "I was beginning to think you were having problems."

Unexpectedly, he slides himself underneath Shelby's arm until her arm was around his neck. "Problems?" He moves in closer to his pretend wife as Shelby puts up a less than thrilled smile. "No. The kids were cranky this morning, so I had to change their diapers... twice."

"So how'd you do?" Peter asks.

"Well, since we're a two career family we decided to budget for a nanny." Ezra then pats Shelby on the hips.

Shelby tries to think of what to say next as she keeps up the smile. "Um, this way we will be able to spend more quality time with the kids and we won't have to send them to boarding school." Ezra is enjoying this too much.

"Very good Shelby. Good work," Peter compliments.

Shelby and Ezra looks at one another. He still has his smirk up. Realizing she doesn't have to endure this anymore, she places her hand on top of Ezra's head and pushes his head down as she walks away. That removes the smile from Ezra's face as Peter and Jeff cracks up a bit.

Peter and Jeff gets off the bench they were sitting on. "I, uh." Peter moves to the front while Jeff takes a seat with the students. "I think a few good points were made, some things were learned, the kids can come back to the roost. And, uh..." Peter steps onto the gazebo.

Daisy sprints up to Peter and hands him her report. "Here. My observation on being childless."

Peter looks at the paper, then flips it over to see if the writing is on the other side. "Daisy, these pages are empty."

"So am I," she replies back.

Jeff approaches her from behind. He looks at Peter, who then gives Jeff a signal. "Daisy," he tells her. She turns around to face Jeff. "We got a second opinion," he tells her with a slight smirk in the corner of his mouth.

"I'm not barren?" she asks with a more optimistic expression on her face.

"As many as you want." Jeff hands her half a carton of eggs.

Daisy turns to look at Peter then turns back to Jeff. She takes the eggs now with a grin on her face. Daisy then walks off.

Something grabs Peter attention. Jeff sits in front of the students with papers in hand. "All right..."

Peter approaches Katherine's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Cabot..." They walk up to Peter. Mrs. Cabot crosses her arms. "I just want you to know we've been working with Katherine and I-"

"She's coming home with us today," Mrs. Cabot interrupts him.

"Mrs. Cabot I really don't think that's the answer," Peter suggests.

"It happens to be the only answer we have right now," she responds back. "She's not getting any better, she's getting worse. And if she's still having a problem with Shannon's death, we'll deal with it at home – as a family."

"You'll have a better chance dealing with it here," Sophie calls out as she confronts them, "If you want to stay as a family."

"Is she talking now?" Mr. Cabot asks about his daughter.

"Yeah," Sophie answers. "Look, be honest with her about Shannon's death."

"It was an accident," Mr. Cabot quickly replies back.

Peter looks at Sophie then looks back at Katherine's parents. "I think what Sophie's trying to tell you is that she needs to hear that, know it, and believe it."

* * *

Sophie watches from a distance as the Cabots try to settle their family issues. Katherine's just sitting there on her bed. Her mom is touching her on the back while her father is looking out the window.

"You acted like it never even happened," Katherine speaks up in a low tone. "Like she was still..."

"We were only thinking of your feelings," her mom explains. "We didn't want you reminded of it."

"I could have dealt with the act..." Katherine then pauses, "But the silence?" Memory of the shores hits Katherine. She turns around to look at her mom. "You never even cried."

"Oh I cried," she tells Katherine. "Believe me Katie, your father and I both cried."

"Never in front of me," her daughter responds.

"And when could we?" Mrs. Cabot asks. "You were out running around shoplifting."

"And even then you didn't get angry," Katherine adds.

"We thought it would be for your own good. We wanted you better."

"You wanted me gone," says the dark skinned girl.

"That's not true," her mom defends.

"You couldn't look at me without thinking of her. You knew she always followed me."

_*flashback*_

Katherine is walking along the shores of the lake. The Cabot's birth daughter Shannon tries to keep up with her older sister. Blond hair, light complexion she was. Both girls are in bathing suits. "Hey wait up," Shannon calls out.

"I'm not in the mood, Shay," Katherine tells her.

"Come on, it will only take five minutes," Shannon pleas.

_*end flashback*_

"You knew I'd led her to the water," Katherine says to her mom, "You knew. You knew I'd let her drown."

_*flashback*_

"Go away!" Katherine demands.

"Scared I'm going to beat you?" remarks her sister.

"Yeah, right. I could beat you blindfolded."

"Not this summer," Shannon says confidently.

Katherine stops and turns around to face her sister. "You keep forgetting something. I always win."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Katherine asks.

"Did I stutter?"

"First one to the buoy and back!" Katherine rushes into the water.

"Wait Katie!" Shannon tries to keep up with her.

The two girls have already travelled off the shoreline and into the deep. Shannon is right behind Katherine. She starts to slow down. She looks forward and sees her sister still moving forward with a steady pace. Shannon stops and starts splashing about. Trying to keep her body a float.

"Wait Katie." Katherine doesn't turn back. Shannon starts to sink lower and lower in the water.

_*end flashback*_

"And you hated me."

"No, we didn't," her mom disagrees.

"Yes. I hated you," Mr. Cabot confirms. Still looking out the window and away from his adopted daughter.

"John."

"She was my baby, my little girl," he continues. "She wanted so much to be like you, but she couldn't. And af - after I'd stand still in the house, I'd swear I could hear the two of you. And for a moment, I'd forget. I'd forget she was gone. It would be just you, just you Katie. Alone." He finally turns around to face his other daughter. "And I hated that." Katherine gets off the bed and looks at her father. "How could I ever have said that I hated you, for even a moment?"

"You could have," she replies back.

"No. Because then I would have lost my other little girl too. And the hole in my heart would be twice as big."

Mrs. Cabot gets off the bed too. "Oh, parents aren't always perfect. That's what we never knew how to say. We love you Katie. And that - that will never change. Can you forgive us?"

"Only if you'll help me forgive myself," Katherine says softly.

The family move in closer for a hug.

Sophie nods at what she's seeing. The camp councillor steps out of the girl's cabin. She shields her eyes from the bright sunlight.

Peter's sitting on the railing of a nearby stairwell. He pushes himself off the railing and lands beside Sophie. "How'd it go?"

"First steps were made."

"I'm impressed."

"No, don't be. Kat's strong."

"Hey." The two of them stop. "Frank's onboard with you staying. Now it's just up to you." There's a pause between them then Sophie starts smiling. "What?" Peter asks.

"Well, we've got a few hours of light left. Want to climb a rock?" Sophie dashes off as Peter follows her.

* * *

Katherine's outside going through a small orange box of personal belongings. She places down a set of family pictures and picks up her diary. She opens up the small purple book and starts writing.

_Dear Shannon,_

_Sorry I've been away for so long. It was just getting harder and harder to write to you… because I miss you so much._

She stops writing and thinks for a bit. Katherine notices she doesn't have the anxiety she did in the past. She continues on writing.

_I met this guy named Hank who I really like…_


End file.
